Love Disease
by mochaaa
Summary: Bad boy Sohma Kyo is a loner and won't let anyone get too close to him. He only uses girls and makes sure never to fall in love with them, but can one request change everything? AU Version of FB. RxR please&thanks. KxT
1. Bodyguard

**Summary: Bad boy Sohma Kyo is a loner and won't let anyone get too close to him. He only uses girls and makes sure never to fall in love, but will that ever change? AU Version of FB. RxR please&thanks. KxT**

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_Love is a like a **disease. **_

_Nobody ever wants to catch it, _

_But they end up catching it anyway. _

_And when they do, it causes great amounts of _

**_pain_**_, and **destruction**  _

_Just like** love.**_

_Chapter I** - Bodyguard**_

"I heard that he robbed a bank one time..."

"Yea, me too. That boy is **bad news**."

A boy with fire colored hair and crimson colored eyes shot an icy glare at the two girls gossiping loudly nearby. They scampered away like a pair of scared little mice when they saw his icy glare directed towards them. He rolled his eyes and exhaled a trail of opaque smoke that escaped from his lips.

_Pathetic bitches..._

Kyo took one last puff on his cigarette and then threw it to the ground before stomping on it. He blew out a sigh of disgust and pushed himself off of the red brick wall of Kaibara High. He walked in a slouchy, and sluggish manner into the mustard colored building and through the mustard colored hallways, arriving as late as possible to class, as usual. He slammed into his assigned seat, all the way in the back, ignoring all of the stares that were coming his way. Kyo just chuckled under his breath and looked into another direction when he caught a glimpse of his teacher shooting him the evil eye. The teacher pushed up his thick tortoise shelled glasses and cleared his throat before commenting on Kyo's tardiness, 

"I see that you've actually decided to come to class today Sohma-kun."

"Tch.."

was all Kyo muttered in response. The teacher shook his head in shame and then went back to writing problems on the board. Out of boredom Kyo looked to his right and saw a pretty girl that he had never seen before sitting next to him. She had long blonde hair and the bluest eyes he had ever seen. He smirked and leaned over towards her and whispered,

"Hey, I haven't seen you around here before."

The girl turned her head towards him and flushed a deep color of royal red when she looked into his deep and intense eyes,

"Oh... I-I'm new... my name is Hanoru Akira."

Kyo smirked and maintained the eye contact with her and said in a low voice,

"Sohma Kyo."

She shot him a shy smile and her cheeks turned a brilliant hue of pink as she held his stare for a long second.

_Got her.___

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In a matter of few days Kyo had gotten Akira into his grasp and used her for what he needed her for. Sex. 

The next day in school Kyo was standing by his locker when he saw Akira approaching him with a cheerful smile planted her face. She went over to him and planted a kiss on his cheek while he grimaced in disgust. He pushed her away as she tried to cuddle with him and said tersely,

"Look, Akira, we can't be together anymore."

Akira face mirrored pure shock and her face turned completely red as she stuttered out the words,

"W-What do you mean?!"

Kyo shrugged and looked straight through her with a blank expression on his tan face. 

"It's just over, so what else can I say?"

She started to sob as the embarrassment filled her heart. She turned her heel and ran away with tears of hurt and humiliation. Kyo rolled his eyes and thought about what a crybaby that girl was as he walked out of the school and through the streets of Tokyo. He stopped in front of a crummy looking building that had a door with graffitti covering every inch of it. He pushed his key in, turned it, and opened the door to the apartment building. He walked up the grimy steps to his "home" and opened the door to room number 218. He threw his keys onto his ratty old bed and then slammed the door shut. He sat down on his bed and sat in the dim room for a moment, that's when his stomach rumbled loudly, making Kyo wince a little. Kyo walked over to the fridge and pulled it open to see that there was only half quart of milk in it. He frowned with anger and slammed the fridge door shut with frustration and hunger. His stomach let out another loud rumble and he groaned while pressing the palm of his hand onto his stomach. He thought for a while and finally decided to just go out and get something to eat before he starved to death. Kyo left the room and descended down the grimy steps again and back to the outdoors. He spotted a bakery across the street that had just opened up recently and decided to settle for that, since he wasn't in a walking sort of mood. He strolled over to the bakery called Ureshii.

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The ring of a bell signaled the entering of a customer and Honda Tohru looked eagerly up from the counter to see a boy with a beat up leather jacket, baggy cargo pants and the brightest shade of orange colored hair she had ever seen, walk through the swinging door. She put on her brightest smile and asked in her best professional voice,

"Hello, do you need any help?"

Kyo looked up from the cakes in the display, that he was practically drooling over, and spotted a girl smliing at him from across the counter. She had chestnut brown hair that went down beneath her shoulders and sparkling brown eyes to go with her lustrious hair. 

"Do I look like I need help?"

he growled angrily, he was** not** in one of his best moods. Tohru felt sweat prickle down the side of her head and she apologized good naturedly,

"I'm sorry, sir."

Kyo gave her a cold stare with his blood colored eyes and pointed at a piece of chocolate cake in the glass case,

"Give me that and I'll be on my way."

Tohru took out the cake and said happily,

"Sure, that will be 300 yen, please."

She watched patiently as he dug vigourously into his deep pockets for a a few long seconds. His mind cursed inwardly when he realized that he didn't have money with him.

_Fuck, this is a bunch of bull shit._

Tohru saw the panic register in his eyes for a millisecond and she frowned with concern,

"A-Ano... are you alright sir?"

Kyo shot her another icy cold stare that made her sweat a little more. He finally took his hands out of his pockets, empty handed. He put on a scowling face and felt so angry as he stormed out of the bakery, but just as he was about to set foot outside of the door he heard the girl yell out,

"Wait!"

He stopped in his place and turned around to see her standing behind him with a slice of savory chocolate cake on a plate in her hands. She held it out to him and said with a sweet smile,

"Here, please take it."

Kyo looked away angrily and muttered,

"I'm not taking no pity shit from some bakery girl,"

Tohru shook her head furiously and held out the plate right under his nose, making it harder to resist the smell of the tantalizing chocolate. She shook her head and insisted,

"No, no! It's just that I had this extra cake and I wasn't sure of what to do with it, and I'm not hungry at all, so please eat it! You would be doing me a favor!"

Kyo gulped and stared at the cake that was just so moist and delicious looking. He balled his hands into fists and thought to himself,

_What the hell is up with this girl?_

His stomach let out a loud growl and Kyo felt his hunger possess him as he grabbed the cake hungrily and stuffed it into his waiting mouth. The sensation that filled his mouth was incredible, the last time he had had such a good cake had been such a long time ago, it was nice to feel something so satisfying touch his heart again. Kyo swallowed the cake with his eyes closed and he let out a sigh of satisfaction. When he opened his eyes he crashed back to reality and saw a brunette girl looking at him with that_ smile_ again. He felt irritation fill his body and he shot her a dirty look before asking in a accusing tone,

"Hey what the hell are you lookin' at?"

_Oh no! He hates me!_

Tohru backed away and laughed nervously as she placed the empty plate onto the counter table,

"Nothing sir, I'm just so glad that you enjoyed the cake."

Kyo watched as she flashed him another signature smile that even chipped a bit of the ice that surrounded his heart. He stood there in silence for a moment and then muttered a 'Whatever' before turning around and leaving without even saying a hearty thank you. 

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Tohru rushed through the mustard colored hallways, frantically trying to find her first period class. 

_Great, my first day, and I'm **lost!**_

She nervously tightened her grip on her books and decided to ask the next person that she saw for directions to room 345. She saw the back of a slouchy figure up ahead and raced up to catch up to the person.

"Excuse me, but could you hel--"

She stopped in mid-sentence when the boy turned around with the same cinnamon colored eyes and the tan expanse. Tohru's eyes widened with surprise and asked happily,

"Hey! You're the guy from the bakery the other day right?"

Kyo gave her a bored look and said monotonously,

"Yea, so?"

She felt herself getting overheated with humiliation as she sputtered out the next few words,

"Do you know where room 345 is?"

He raised an eyebrow and then chuckled softly,

"You're new?"

Tohru nodded shyly and scratched the back of her head in embarrassment,

"I was circling the school, and I don't want to be any later then I already am."

Kyo gave her a smirk and then pointed in the opposite direction he was walking in and said,

"It's that way."

Tohru turned her head and nodded then said in a gracious voice,

"Thank you so much!"

She raced off into that direction and of the hallway and quickly found 345 around the corner. She breathed a sigh of relief and turned the knob to the room and saw the eyes of many students bore into her skin. Her cheeks were a tinge of pink as she walked stiffly into the room. The teacher smiled and asked her with a warm smile,

"You're the new student joining us right? Is it Honda Tohru?"

Tohru nodded and gave the teacher and the class a small little curtsy,

"H-hello, it is very nice to meet you all."

The teacher smiled and gestured her to any seat in the room. Tohru scanned the room and saw an empty seat next to a dirty blonde headed girl in the back who was doodling on her paper. She hurriedly walked down the row and seated herself down, giving the girl with the dirty blonde hair a half hearted smile. The girl smiled back and said casually,

"Yo, my name is Uotani Arisa, you can call me Uo. Nice to meet ya,"

she stuck out her hand and Tohru was shocked by her sudden friendliness and then smiled nicely back before placing her hand into her palm and shaking gratefully.

"Nice to meet you as well Uo-san,"

After the bell rang Uo and Tohru walked out of class together and Uo started to chatter away,

"So you're new here?"

Tohru nodded and hugged her books to her chest while dodging the many bodies that came flying towards them. 

"Don't worry, it aint' that bad of a school, when you get used to it and everything."

Tohru shot her a small smile and said,

"Yea I've met some nice people already, like you and this other boy."

Uo raised an eyebrow and asked curiously,

"A boy?"

Tohru looked thoughtfully up at the ceiling and said,

"Oh, yes, this orange haired boy with these very intense eyes, he showed me how to get to the classroom in the first place."

Uo's mouth dropped open when she thought of the only boy with orange hair and asked incredulously while waving her hands wildly in the air,

"You don't mean ... Sohma Kyo do you?! Orange hair, leather jacket, crimson eyes?"

Tohru nodded at each description and asked innocently,

"Why? What's the matter with him?"

Uo shook her head with shame and said in a low voice as if she were on a top secret spy mission,

"Look, that guy is **bad news** you hear? You should stay away from him at _all costs_ if you don't want to get hurt. I'm tellin' ya, he uses girls like tissues and treats them like _garbage_. And let me tell you something, he loves new girls..."

Tohru's eyes widened at the horrible details of Uo's description and she refused to believe such things about any human being. Tohru pouted and said in disbelief,

"That can't be, maybe we're talking about a different person."

Uo frowned when she saw the denial and disbelief in Tohru's eyes and then shrugged,

"Well if you ever meet such a boy called Sohma Kyo, stay far away from him... I'm just warning you...I mean I've seen him beat up a whole bunch of burly men before, for no reason!"

Tohru's eyes had a new glint in them as she smiled gratefully up at her new friend and said with a great amount of gratitude,

"Thank you for the warning Uo-san, but I like to believe in the good of people. Uo-san, I'm so very glad to have met you."

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_Two days later..._

Kyo sat on his beat up old bed, hungry, and thinking about going back down to the bakery for some more of that cake. His stomach rumbled loudly and he lowered his head with shame as he slumped his shoulders and walked out of the building to the bakery across the street again. He entered the swinging door, causing the bell to echo throughout the small bakery. Tohru's head perked up when she saw a customer come in and saw that it was the orange haired boy again. _"...I've seen him beat up a whole bunch of burly men!"_ Uo's words hung in her head and it wouldn't budge as he neared the counter with his intense glare. 

_Should I ask him? _

She put on her usual happy face and then said to him cheerfully,

"It's so nice to see you again! How may I help you?"

He wondered how anyone on this planet could be so sickly sweet, he had never met a girl like this before. Tohru looked carefully at him for a while and then finally spoke up while he was looking at the wonderful cakes,

"Ano....I"m sorry to bother you, but may I ask you of a favor?"

Kyo raised an eyebrow and looked up from the case to see a pleading face in front of him,

"I barely know you, why would I do you any fa--"

"For free cake,"

she added, making Kyo stop in his sentence and day dream about the cake. When he came out of his fantasy land his maroon eyes met with her chocolate eyes. 

"Deal,"

he said finally, making the girl perk up even more. 

"So what's the big favor?"

She put her hands together and cleared her throat, then looked down at the tiled floor. When she looked back into his eyes asked in a loud voice,

"Would... you be my bodyguard?!"

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	2. The Truth Is

**Thanks for the reviews, you people rock socks :] **

_Chapter II -_ **_The Truth Is_**

He blinked a couple of times, still letting the words sink into his head, and then he asked in an incredulous voice,

"What?!"

Tohru held her hands up defensively and repeated with an apologetic voice,

"I'm sorry to have to ask you this but would you please be my bodyguard?"

Kyo felt his shock simmer down to a zero as he felt his cool come back and he started to question her more,

"What do you mean exactly..."

"Well you could walk me home every night to keep me from... well... criminals."

"What, is there someone after you or something?"

Tohru stayed silent at that question and just looked away into another direction, not sure of how to answer that question. She just sighed and looked at him, but now the light had left her usual bright eyes,

"Will you do it? You really don't have to."

She smiled at him, letting him know that she was fine with him not taking the "job." Kyo pursed his lips together and pondered before probing more into the subject,

"How long is this thing gonna last?"

"I'm not sure..."

Kyo raised an eyebrow, knowing that she was hiding something from him. He finally smirked and then said,

"At least tell me your name."

Tohru pale face flushed to a pink color and she gave him a little bow before going,

"Ah! I'm sorry, I am being so rude! My name is Honda Tohru, pleased to meet you."

She lifted her face to meet his eyes and he looked at her for a moment longer before saying his own name,

"I'm Sohma Kyo...now just to tell you, I'm not doing this because I want to, I'm just doing this for the free cake, and that's it. You know that right?"

Tohru nodded cheerfully and answered energetically,

"Absolutely."

Kyo grunted in amusement and then crossed his arms over his chest,

"So what do ya want me to do? Just wait here all friggin day for you until you finish?"

Tohru blushed a deep shade of pink and then lowered her head so that she wasn't looking at him anymore,

"Well... you don't have to do that, you can come back at 8pm, which is when I finish my shift."

Kyo shrugged and then pointed at one of the buttery cakes in the display and said,

"I'd like one of those to go then."

Tohru smiled and scooped it up onto a plate, handing it over to him. He sunk his teeth into it and fell into heaven just like the last time. He then put up a hand and said,

"Later,"

and walked out of the bakery with the cake in his hands. Tohru watched as he walked out of the swinging doors and felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders,

Thank you Kyo...

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It was 8pm and Kyo inhaled the sweet taste of the smoke that filled his lungs. He exhaled and watched the smoke screen fill his eyes as he waited for Tohru to step out of the bakery. When he heard the little ring of the bell he took one last drag and then dumped it to the ground, knowing that a girl like her would hate the smell of cigarettes. He got up off of the wall and then asked tiredly,

"Ready?"

Tohru nodded and then they both started to walk up the road in silence for a while, until Tohru broke the silence,

"Thank you for doing this huge favor for me... you don't know how much it means to me."

Kyo just grunted in return, not used to the praise. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his khaki colored pants and trudged down the silver pavement with his companion walking idly by. He glanced at her and then asked a simple question,

"So why are you in such a desperate need for a bodyguard?"

Tohru's head snapped up and she looked up at him with her eyes practically glowing with the pale light shining upon them. She then flicked her eyes away and they got filled with a sudden emptiness,

"I... I'm just scared to walk home alone all the time. I just moved here and everything, and there is a lot of danger around here...I mean I heard there was a lot of danger and everything."

She put her head down and her teeth dragged against the bottom of her lip nervously as she glanced quickly at him from the corner of her eye. He saw how uncomfortable she looked and decided to just let the subject go for now, and go with the flow until she spit out the secret that she was keeping. After all, he was just in this whole ordeal for the free cake right? They walked the rest of the ten minute walk without any talking but the good news was that there wasn't even a speck of danger in sight on the way there. He walked her to her front porch and then gave out a great big yawn before turning his back and giving a lazy wave to her,

"See ya tomorrow,"

he said and slunk down the stone steps, not noticing that she was staring at his retreating back.

"Thank you..."

He couldn't help but look back when she said those two words. He had never met such a person that could be _that_ polite, or_ that_ nice. He sighed and walked the rest of the way back to his pigsty of a house and fell right asleep. 

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The next morning at school he saw Tohru rummaging through her locker, taking and putting back in her books and such. He walked up to her and leaned against the locker right next to hers, and greeted her with a one word grunt,

"Oy."

The books slipped out of her hands, from the shock that he gave her and she blushed at her klutzniess and immediately went down to pick up the books that lay open on the dusty school ground. She popped back up with her books in her hands and he just watched in amusement. 

"G-Good morning Kyo-kun! How are you today?"

Kyo controlled himself from rolling his eyes and just said in a curt voice,

"I'm all right, I just wanted to say hi, that's all. See ya later."

Tohru opened her mouth to say something more but he had already turned his heel and disappeared into the growing crowd. A tap was felt on her shoulder and her books nearly slipped out of her grasp again, but this time she caught herself before she had another embarrassing accident.

"Hey, did I just see you talking to Sohma Kyo?"

Tohru turned around to see herself face to face with Uo. 

"Good morning Uo-san! I was just saying good morning to Kyo-kun as well."

Tohru flashed her a bright smile and Uo gave Tohru a little frown before admonishing her,

"Just... watch your back around him okay?"

Tohru nodded quickly and said in a promising voice,

"I'll watch my back, but he is a very nice person Uo-san."

Uo shot her a strange look but she shrugged it off.

"Whatever you say..."

They both walked together to their next classes.

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Seven days flew by, and Kyo had been walking Tohru home for the whole entire week, without any danger in sight. On the last day of the week he stopped at her house and asked her a question that had been on his mind,

"Don't your parents care about this whole thing about needing a bodyguard?"

Tohru froze before touching the knob of the door to her apartment. She then turned to him and shot him a tentative smile before folding her hands together in a morose way. 

"....My parents are...dead."

Kyo's eyes averted from her and he felt a lump, that was unfamiliar to him, form in his chest.

"Sorry..."

he muttered under his breath, so that only he could probably hear it. Tohru just gave him a heart warming smile and thanked him like she always did, and gave him one last wave before disappearing into the apartment building.

_How can she be so happy? _

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On the eighth day, Tohru and Kyo were trudging up the same moon covered road when Kyo felt a sudden strange presence of danger interrupt the peace. He stopped in his tracks and held up his left arm to signal that he felt something bad going on. Tohru stopped and felt her heart skip a few beats as she listened intently for any sort of noise. Kyo whipped his head around and swore that he saw a shadow being thrown across the wall nearby. Tohru gulped and felt her breaths getting shorter and her knees beginning to get shakier. That's when a man jumped from the ledge of the wall with a knife in his hand. Kyo pushed Tohru out of the way and they both tumbled to the ground. The man was dressed in black and had a white mask over his face as he jumped up from the pavement and sliced blindly at the two. Kyo rolled out of the way and tripped the attacker. Kyo easily fended off the guy and punched him out to the ground, with one swift sock in the face. Kyo grabbed Tohru's paralyzed wrist and forcefully pulled her along the road. She felt her legs moving as quickly as they could to follow him and she felt her heart beat faster and faster as Kyo led her to a beat up looking apartment where he kicked open the door and ran up the grimy steps. Kyo opened up the door to room 218 and let her inside, glancing cautiously from side to side before closing the door with relief. He sighed and then looked at the pale girl that stood behind him with so much fear in her that it was nauseating. She sputtered out,

"I-I'm so sorry."

Kyo just stared at her darkly and then finally said angrily,

"...Did you_ know_ someone was after you?! Tell me the truth now!"

Tohru felt tears prick the back of her eyes but she blinked them away rapidly and looked down at the wooden floor boards. 

"You're right...I haven't been completely honest with you and I'm really sorry,"

She looked up at him with shining eyes and said to him,

"The truth is….."

_to__ be continued_

**Sorry to leave you all hanging… but I'm an evil person, muahahahah! :D anyways I'll appreciate it a lot if you give lots of REVIEWS!! hehes :D thanks! ^_____^**


	3. I'm Here

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_Chapter III_ -** I'm Here**

She hesitated a little and then fiddled with her thumbs while sitting on her knees in the dim room. 

"The truth is... that my mother used to be a part of this _gang _in her past, but when she had me she wanted to get out of the gang... but they refused to let her out of it, and so she fled from them with me to several places."

She glanced away and blinked rapidly a few times to stop the tears from falling and continued,

"But they kept chasing after us and they just wouldn't let my mother off the hook. They told her that she was a traitor for wanting to break away from them and that she needed to be killed. I was about thirteen when my mother told me one night to stay home because she was going grocery shopping... but that night she never came back."

The tears were already slipping down from the sides of her eyes and she sniffed long and hard,

"T-They killed her, and now they want to kill me too... I've been running for so long and I don't want to run anymore. I'm so scared..."

Tohru buried her head into her knees and cried in the dark room while Kyo gawked at her, not sure of what to say anymore. He felt an emotional sensation pass through his heart but he dismissed it quickly, not knowing how to deal with these feelings because he hadn't had to deal with them for so long. He stared long and hard at the crouched girl in the corner, crying, and finally said in a low voice,

"I'm here... so stop your damn worrying."

He started to blush furiously as he suddenly started to concentrate on the wooden floorboards. Tohru looked up at him and her lips parted as her emotions began to stir. She leaped up from her spot and circled her petite arms around his waist, giving him a warm embrace. His eyes widened at the foreign feelings that burst through his veins and as if on instinct he pushed her off gently before muttering out, 

"Don't get all lovey-dovey now..."

Tohru blushed and shot him an apologetic smile,

"Sorry, I'm just so thankful. So thankful to be able to stop running,"

Kyo gave her a lopsided grin and then scratched the back of his head and said,

"I guess I should walk you back home."

Tohru nodded in agreement and smiled happily,

"Thank you Kyo-kun."

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A month had passed and he had been walking home with Tohru every day from the bakery, not running into anymore danger... for the time being. After a while Kyo even felt himself beginning to _enjoy_ himself more then he thought he would , he didn't even realize the bond that was growing between them until one Friday afternoon while he was smoking by the brick wall behind the school. He closed his eyes and let out the trail of smoke that diffused into the air. When he opened up his eyes he saw an annoying pair of green eyes sneering at him from the fence across the red brick wall. He glared at the annoying looking boy who was giving him a dirty look and snarled angrily at the kid,

"What the fuck are you looking at?"

The kid just smirked and walked up to him as if he were some tough guy and asked in an annoying voice,

"So Sohma, what girl are you fuckin' lately huh?"

Kyo just ignored him and blew a whole bunch of smoke into the boy's face and said tersely,

"None of your fucking business."

The kid didn't seem to be intimidated because he just stood with his feet planted onto the floor, not even affected by the smoke being blown into his face. He just continued to smirk and said to him with an overly annoying voice,

"I heard that you've been seeing that new girl Honda Tohru, so how long have you been with her huh?"

Kyo threw his cigarette to the ground, getting seriously irritated and asked bitterly,

"Don't you know when to shut the fuck up?"

"I think that Mr. Bad boy is fallin' in _love_!" 

"Shut...UP!"

The kid let out the most horrendous sounding laugh in the universe that made Kyo grimace,

"Well if you're not then maybe you can toss her my way when you're finished with her."

That was the last straw; his anger had reached a new maximum as he punched the guy in the face, sending him all the way to the fence. Passing strangers gaped at the fight and walked away from the dangerous scene as quickly as possible. Kyo glared at the fainted figure on the weeded grass and walked off with his hands in his pockets, thinking about what the guy had said and what had set him off. He walked all the way to the bakery and stared through the glass window, watching as Tohru talked to a customer with a smiling face, as usual. He felt his heart beat faster and that was when he realized that he was beginning to get attached to her and he had to detach himself as fast as possible. He didn't want to go through the pain that he had endured in his past. Never again. He walked quickly away from the bakery as fast as possible and into his apartment building before she could spot him. 

_What're you gonna do, avoid her forever?_

He closed his eyes with anguish and knew that he couldn't go back to love ever again, or anything even _close_ to it... He sighed and pulled at his orange hair with frustration when he knew that he had to stop seeing her or he was bound to love again. He went up to his room and sat there, contemplating about what to do... if he left her she might get attacked, but if he kept being with her then he would go through pain. 

_What happened to you? You've grown soft..._

He got up from his bed and decided on the avoidance plan. He was now going to go back to his old ways of cutting class, having sex, smoking whenever the hell he wanted, and not having to have a care in the world. The way things used to be, before _her_.

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It was 8pm and Tohru was waiting outside of the bakery while the wind played with her chestnut hair. She glanced nervously around for Kyo, he was usually always waiting outside for her before she even came out. Twenty minutes passed and he still hadn't come yet. She began to get worried and wondered if something had happened to him, or if maybe she had done something to seriously offend him. She saw the sky darken to a midnight color and the moon was now a complete circle now. She gulped and stared down at her black, polished shoes and waited for fifteen more minutes before finally deciding that she would just have to go back home herself.

_Stop being such a coward Tohru! Have strength, Mother wouldn't be this scared..._

She closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath before heading home as fast as she could.

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Kyo had taken a walk and looked at the clock outside on a store window and saw that it was 8:45pm. He sighed when he passed by the bakery, unable to control the guilty feelings that began to surface. 

_What if she's been attacked?_

His crimsons eyes widened at the thought of her bloody body and he suddenly felt his legs walk him up the road that led to her house. In a few moments he heard a blood curdling scream that made his pupils dilate and his legs run like mad into the direction that the scream originated. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Tohru lying on the ground, clutching her bleeding shoulder. His eyes moved and he saw that there was a man dressed in the same attire as the last attacker, except this time he had a blood stained knife in his hand. The man raised his knife in the air to take another slice but Kyo kicked it out of his hands before any harm could be done and screamed out,

"Get the fuck away from her!!"

Kyo dodged the flying punch that came his way and he kneed the mystery attacker in the stomach, sending him flying a few feet away. That's when a few more men in black jumped from the trees, with knives in their hands.

_Shit..._

They surrounded Kyo and advanced towards him slowly. Kyo jumped up and left a shoe mark on one of the men's hockey masks and ducked as the others tried to slice at him while he tripped two more men. He then rolled out of the way of a flying knife and then roll punched a guy in the stomach. The last guy lunged at Kyo and he back kicked the last guy. The adrenaline in him was pumping as he stared at the pile of knocked out men that lay on the street. Tohru watched with awe and her mouth dropped open when she saw the pile of unmoving men on the sidewalk. Tears filled her eyes as she ran up to him and threw her arms around his waist again, but this time he didn't push her way. Instead he just gulped and awkwardly patted the back of her head. Her tears glistened in her eyes as she let out a loud sniffle and said with a breaking voice,

"I was so scared...I thought that you weren't going to come..."

Kyo felt his breathing get heavier as he held her closer to him in a more protective manner and he gulped as he uttered out,

"I'm here..."

**Reviews please ^___^**


	4. Hate Me

**THANK YOU ALL FOR THE REVIEWS :D I just wanna say that I feel very happy with all the reviews, you people rock :D oh man, sorry for not updating sooner but I've been having a major writers block thing going on . well anyway... just enjoy.**

_Chapter IV_** - Hate Me**

They both walked up the rest of the way to her house in complete silence, not sure of what to say to each other after the whole scenario. 

When they reached the front of her apartment building he spotted the cut on her shoulder, which was still bleeding a bit. He reached out to graze his fingertips on her cut. She shivered from his touch and felt like crying again. He stared at it and asked,

"Does it hurt?"

Tohru bit her lower lip, felt her eyes water, and stuttered,

"A...A little"

The silver stars twinkled against the black sky, and the clouds wrapped their arms around the silver moon, signaling that night had fallen. Kyo felt so guilty about the cut so he said softly, 

"Come on, let's go upstairs and get that wound fixed up..."

Tohru opened her mouth to protest that she was okay but he lifted a finger to her lips and said,

"I'm helping you out no matter what you say."

She bowed her head in defeat and then looked back up at him with a smile on her face. She turned around and opened the door to the apartment building and led him up the flight of stairs that led to her room. When they reached room 116 they went inside and he asked,

"So where are the bandages?"

Tohru's cheeks flushed pink and she said,

"Ano... I don't have any."

Kyo felt his mouth turn downward into a frown and he asked incredulously,

"How can you not have any bandages?!"

Tohru looked at her shoes with embarrassment and sat down on the couch with shame,

"I'm sorry..."

Kyo put his hand on his forehead and cursed at himself inwardly,

"No, no... I'm sorry for yelling."

Kyo sat down next to her and thought for a while before reaching into his pockets for his favorite bandana. He grabbed her wounded arm and tied the bandana around her shoulder tightly,

"Here, I'll just use this for now."

Tohru's eyes widened with concern and she asked,

"Is that okay for you to use that?"

Kyo nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. Tohru looked down at her hands in her lap and finally asked tentatively,

"Kyo-kun...I'm sorry to have caused you any trouble today..."

Kyo felt the ice around his heart melt away as his mouth dropped open slightly, 

_How can anyone be so **innocent**? So **sweet**? Even after I ditched her, **and** let her get hurt, she **still** thinks that it's** her** fault? Is she some kind of angel?!_

He felt himself raise his arm up and place a warm, but rough, hand on top of her smooth cheek. She let out a small gasp from his touch and felt time stop as he inched closer and closer to her with the sweetest look in his eyes. Her eyes fluttered close and her heart beat faster and faster as his lips brushed gently against her soft pink lips. Before she knew it, she was kissing him on the beige colored couch, with no regrets. It was her greatest moment ever... to be kissed by Sohma Kyo. Ten seconds passed and when those seconds ended, Kyo finally realized what he was doing and pulled away abruptly. He stood up, with a red face, and stumbled out of the front door,

"I-I gotta go..."

As he rushed out of the front door, Tohru was left sitting on the couch, shocked from all the events that had just occurred. She touched her lips that were still warm from his kiss and whispered softly to nobody in particular,

"Thank you..."

Kyo was racing down the steps of the apartment building and pushed the door to his exit, breathing in the fresh air that burst into his lungs. He placed his hands on his knees and then broke into a run for his house. 

_What the hell are you doing?! Don't you have any self control? _

Once Kyo got home he rolled right into his beat up old bed, not wanting to think about anything anymore. Soon enough Kyo was being drifted into a dream...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Dream sequence~_

_There was a woman with short brown hair, and ocean colored eyes laying with Kyo on a beautiful sunny beach. The ocean waves crashed against the warm sand, caressing their toes softly. The gentle summer breeze came around and tickled their skin. The woman let out a low sigh and smiled deeply before asking with innocence,_

_"Kyo-kun, don't you wish everyday was as peaceful as this?"_

_Kyo__ lay on his back, with his arms resting underneath his orange colored hair. He smiled at the clear blue skies and the occasional seagulls that flocked by and said with no regrets, _

_"Yea...I wanna spend everyday with you..."_

_He turned his head slightly to give her a warm smile and his crimson eyes shined with happiness as his eyes melted into her ocean eyes. Suddenly a crash of thunder collided with the tranquility of the moment, making Kyo and the woman sit up with a sudden fear that bubbled up inside of them. The sky suddenly deteriorated into a black color and the clouds morphed into a dark gray color. Kyo and the woman looked around at the strange change of scene and stood up from the now cold sand. The woman held onto Kyo's hand tightly and asked with terror, _

_"What's happening?!"___

_Kyo's__ eyes widened as he gaped at the now black water that was rising high. Suddenly the woman let out a high pitched scream as her foot was caught by a long hand that had risen from the black water. Now she was being pulled into the sea of black water by more long hands shooting from the waters. Kyo scrambled up from the sand and he grabbed the woman's hand, screaming,_

_"AYUMI!!!"___

_She cried out to him with tears in her eyes,_

_"Kyo-kun!__ Help me!!"_

_He grasped her hands tightly in his rough hands, but her fingers still began to slip, one by one, from his hands. He felt himself perspirating as he held on to her with every bit of his strength, but no matter how much he gripped, her hands kept on slipping. She struggled helplessly and Kyo screamed out,  _

_"Don't let go!!"_

_Ayumi__ whimpered and let out one last scream as her last finger flew from his grasp and he watched in horror as she was slowly sucked into the black water. Kyo ran to the water, but a force pushed him back as he watched Ayumi being devoured in front of his own eyes. He reached out his arms with tears in his eyes and screamed with all the anguish that his body possessed. He squeezed his eyes shut and banged his fists into the sand, feeling as if a million shards of glass had just pierced him in the back. _

_"Why?!__ Why?!!!! WHY??!!!"_

_When he opened his eyes again he gasped when he saw that he was sitting on the beautiful beach again... except this time there was someone different sitting beside him. It was **Tohru**. She lay beside him with a serene smile on her face and she rolled her shoulders back, letting out a low sigh before asking with innocence,_

_"Kyo-kun, don't you wish everyday was as peaceful as this?"_

Kyo snapped up from his bed with a cold sweat prickling down the side of his forehead. His chest went up and down from the pain, and he felt that his eyes were wet. He put his hand over his face when he thought about Ayumi's face and how he never wanted to feel the same pain again. 

_Remember the promise you made with yourself? The promise to never love again? I want to keep it so badly... but **Tohru's**got a hold on me and I can't shake her off. She makes me do things that I can't even **control**._

He looked straight into the dark room, staring into nothingness, and then he felt thoughts form in his mind.

_You know what you have to do Kyo... you have to make her hate you._

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tohru was humming happily in the bakery, wiping the counter clean. She felt so happy from the night before. She kept thinking about how his lips felt against hers and the warm fuzzy feelings it gave her. The bell on the door rang through the bakery and she looked up to see Kyo enter the bakery at that moment, making her mood brighten up even more. She got out from the counter and gave him a sunny smile, greeting him pleasantly,

"Good morning Kyo-kun, would you like anything?"

When she peered at his face she saw that he wasn't well at all. His whole facial expression was dark, and he looked like he had gotten no sleep at all with the bags that had formed beneath his eyes. She looked at him with concern and touched his hand gently,

"Are you okay?"

Kyo took a deep breath and then forcefully swatted her hand away from him. She gasped at his harsh movement and felt a wave of hurt pass through her body. He started to shake a little as he said with an angry voice,

"You know... how I didn't show up the other night?"

Tohru's eyebrows scrunched together at his sudden change of subject and asked with curiosity,

"What about it? Is everything okay?"

Kyo licked his dry lips and felt his throat dry up when he said in a scratched up voice,

"I...I _meant_ to ditch you. In fact I was avoiding you that day."

"But you still came... and I'm so thankful for that."

_Why does she have to make this so damn hard?!_

Kyo squeezed his hands into fists and yelled with anger and frustration,

"Don't you** get** it?! I didn't **want** to be around you!! In fact, I-I was only... _using_ you to get you... to get you... i-in bed..."

His last words seemed to come out softer than the other ones. He gulped loudly and felt his heart being torn into pieces when he saw the look of hurt that crossed over her features. But her look of hurt changed into a look of sadness and she whispered out,

"You... don't mean that, do you?"

Kyo opened his mouth to say 'yes' but he couldn't find the strength to get the one simple word out of his mouth. He stood there staring at her for a few seconds and then just dashed out of the bakery as fast as possible. Tohru fell against the wall and felt the hot tears slide down her face.

_How can you be so happy one minute and so sad the next?_

She raised a shaky arm up and rolled her sleeve up a little bit. The bandana that was wrapped around her shoulder was blurry from her tear filled eyes. She lifted her other arm and touched the wool fabric of the black bandana. She let out a loud sniffle and then unraveled the bandana from her wound, uncovering a closed up cut. 

_… I wish I knew why you did those things to me…_

****

**REVIEWS PLEASE**

**ACKKK, I need to seriously think up some good ideas . damn writers block... **


	5. Rescuer

**Thanks again for all the reviews. :] I just read the second manga of Fruits Basket and I can't wait to read every single volume!! KYORU ROCKS! xD**

_Chapter V _**-_ Rescuer_**

Tohru sat in her dark room, listening to the loud pitter patter that the rain made when they hit her window panes. She hugged her knees closer to her chest, knowing that she was going to have to leave Tokyo for good now because she certainly didn't belong here. Plus, she couldn't bear the fact that she had inflicted so much pain upon another human being. Tohru felt the tears slide down her cheeks as she got up on her feet and looked at her empty suitcases that were strewn across the wooden floor. She bent down and picked them up, throwing them on top of her unmade bed. Then she began to carelessly toss her clothing and a bunch of her other belongings into the open brown suitcase. She didn't know where she was headed to yet, but she was about to find out tomorrow morning. As she was tossing things into her suitcase, her hand came across a fabric that was familiar, causing her to look down to see the black bandana that he had given her the night she had really fallen for him. She closed her eyes as more tears slid down her cheeks and tightened the grip around the bandana, wanting to give it back to him, but she felt that she couldn't face him quite yet. She sighed and stuffed the bandana deep into her jacket pocket, not wanting to let go of it...yet.

------------------------------------

_I'm lying in my bed_

_Hear the clock ticking_

_I think of you_

_Caught up in circles_

_Confusion, there's nothing new_

_Flashback, warm nights_

_Almost left behind_

_Suitcase of memories_

-------------------------------------

The sun rose the next morning and Kyo sat in his math classroom, staring off into the bright blue skies out of the window. He couldn't stop picturing her face being scrunched up with hurt and pain when he had said those cruel last words to her. The teacher's annoying interrupted his thoughts by yelling,

"Sohma-kun! Are you even_ listening_ to me?!"

Kyo turned his head slightly, to face the senile man with flaring nostrils. He smirked slightly and said casually,

"Nope."

The teacher turned tomato red and angrily pointed a shaky finger to the door,

"Detention!"

Kyo sighed and pushed himself out of his seat, noisily, and walked to the door coolly, making sure to slam the door on his way out. He walked through the deserted hallways, his heart painfully yearning to hear Tohru's sweet voice along with her sweet words. He walked out of the front entrance with a doleful face and decided that the only way to get rid of this heart ripping pain was to talk to her and sort things out. He was finally realizing what a coward he was and how stupid he truly was. He walked himself all the way to the bakery and saw that there was a new girl at the counter. He frowned and went inside, making the familiar bell ring throughout the store. The girl looked up with a smile and asked brightly,

"May I help you?"

Kyo gulped down the giant lump in his throat when the memories of the first time he met Tohru flooded into his head. He cleared his throat, pushing the thoughts out, and asked with a hoarse voice,

"Was there a girl named Honda Tohru in here before?"

The girl twisted her face into a thinking position and then finally stated,

"Does she have brown hair and brown eyes? A very nice girl she was..."

Kyo's eyes widened with hope and asked with his now sparkling crimson eyes,

"So you saw her?"

"Umm, yes I did and I heard her telling my manager that she had to quit because she was leaving Tokyo or something like that..."

Kyo felt his legs get weak and he gripped his hands onto the counter. He felt lightheaded now that he had just heard the news,

"L-Leaving?"

The girl nodded slowly and asked with concern,

"Are you okay?"

Kyo banged his fist onto the counter and then rushed out of the door as quickly as he could. He felt his legs carry himself all the way up the same road that led to her apartment and he found himself banging his fists against her apartment door with panic and tears spilling from beneath his eyes. 

"Tohru! Tohru!! Please let me in!"

Silence. 

Kyo banged his fist on the door one last time and then resorted to twisting the knob to find that it was unlocked. He pushed open the door slowly at first but then when he took one glimpse inside he opened the door fully, his mouth dropped open. The place was deserted and nearly empty. He left the room and nearly fell down the flights of stairs, running as fast as he possibly could to the next place that popped into his head. The airport. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tohru sat in the brown leather chair, waiting for the plane to America to be called. She had finally decided on going to a new place with a fresh new start. She was using up the rest of her money for this trip, she knew it was stupid, but she had to do it. She looked at her watch and suddenly felt sick with fear to be traveling all across the country to a whole new place with new faces. She had never gone this far from Tokyo before. She didn't even hear the loudspeaker scream out for the plane to America since she was so lost in thought. On the last warning she snapped up and got up from the coffee colored chair, perspiring just a little. She walked up to the desk, but just as she reached it she heard her name being screamed out by a certain voice that she half longed to hear but half longed **not** to hear. She turned her head slowly to see a tired Kyo a few feet behind her.

"W..Wait..."

Tohru felt her stomach churn and she opened her mouth but nothing came out. Kyo walked closer to her and she gaped when she saw that there were fresh tears in his eyes, she had never seen him cry before. He said in a breaking voice,

"Please don't go... the things that I last said to you, they didn't **mean** anything, I just said them because I was** scared** of what would develop between us... and I was selfish because I didn't want to get hurt. So please, come back, give me another chance. Don't go."

She looked down at the beige carpeted floor and felt tears drop down, staining the perfectly clean carpet. She felt herself shake her head sadly and said,

"I can't...I have to go now before I put any more pain on you. I hate to be the one that caused you pain... I made you're life so complicated, so it's best that I leave."

Kyo grabbed her arm and said with an emotion filled voice,

"No! It's not your fault! I was the one being stupid, please stop blaming yourself..."

She tugged her arm out of his grasp and turned around so that he wouldn't see her tear stained cheeks.

"I'm sorry...but all I do is bring trouble, goodbye Kyo."

Tohru ran to the desk and handed in her ticket, taking one last glance at a shocked Kyo who was frozen in his spot. He watched as she walked away, farther and farther from him, and then she finally disappeared. 

-----------------------------------

_If you're lost, you can look_

_And you will find me_

_Time after time_

_If you fall, I will catch you_

_I will be waiting_

_Time after time_

**_INOJ-Time After Time_**__

-----------------------------------------

Tohru was lugging her suitcases and dragging them on the gravel that lead to the open airplane, waiting for her to enter. Suddenly a boy with violet hair and a beautiful face came up to her and offered gently,

"Would you like me to help you with those bags?" 

Tohru looked to her side to see a boy with a charming smile and a slender figure standing beside her. Her eyes brightened and being her kind self she shook her head and insisted,

"It's alright I can carry them, but thank you for offering. May I ask of your name?"

"Sohma Yuki... and are you Honda Tohru?"

Her eyes widened with surprise and she asked,

"How did you know my name?"

Yuki's cheeks flushed a floral color and he said nervously,

"Oh! Um...I knew your mother back in the day."

Tohru stopped in her tracks and she nearly dropped her suitcases,

"You knew my mother?!"

she asked incredulously, blinking rapidly in shock. Yuki cleared his throat and put on his charming smile again,

"Yup, we go way back...hey that reminds me, your mother wanted me to give you something that she never was able to give to you."

She looked at the plane nearby and said with worry,

"But, I have to leave for that plane to get out of Tokyo."

"You can take the next plane. I just have to give this gift to you, it's very important to your mother... plus you can come back here once we're finished, it'll be fine, I promise."

He gave her a trusting smile and Tohru bit her lower lip, debating on what to do. She felt so pressured at that moment, but she felt that her mother was more important, so she'd have to put America on hold for now. She pressed her lips together and then finally said,

"Okay, I'll go."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Kyo was walking sadly down the street back to his apartment to sulk some more. He had just lost another precious person in his life. He had blown his chances of finding happiness. He sighed and tucked his hands into his pockets when he felt someone approaching from behind. He turned around to see a man with a white mask behind him with a raised knife and quickly ducked as it sliced at the air. He jumped back as the man sliced like a madman from side to side, trying to reach him. Kyo felt the anger pour out of him as he grabbed the man's arm and threw him to the cement ground with a loud bang. 

"Leave me the fuck alone!!"

Kyo screamed, grabbing the knife from the man and holding it to the man's neck. Kyo gripped the knife so that his knuckles turned white and he said with a threatening voice,

"Tell me what the hell you want or you go to hell, permanently."

The man squirmed nervously and finally said with a fear filled voice,

"Fine, fine! But just please don't kill me!"

"Just tell me what the hell you want!"

The man's hesitation made Kyo put the knife so close to his skin that he could feel the coldness of the blade pierce his throat. He gasped and then said with a choked voice,

"The boss just ordered me to come after yo---"

Kyo punched him and screamed out,

"What about Tohru?! What's going to happen with her?!"

"Sh-She's with the boss right now."

Kyo couldn't believe his ears,

"WHAT?!" 

"You heard me! I said she's with the boss right now!"

Kyo held the knife closer to him and asked with a menacing voice,

"Where is your boss?"

The man trembled with fear from death and confessed quickly,

"At the old mansion on 42nd street, it's hidden in an alley! Now_ please_ just let me go..."

"If you're not telling the truth I'll kick your ass so bad you'll be _begging_ to die."

Kyo punched the guy out taking his mask and stripped him of his clothing except for his undergarments, and then he stuffed him into a metal garbage can before running off to his destination.

**PLEASE REVIEWWW. THANKSS!**


	6. Still Leaving?

**Hey everyone,** **thanks for all the reviewss :D sorry for the long wait, but so much work been going on… anyway, just to clear things up, Yuki is _not_ the boss hehes, sorry if I made it seem that way O_O anyway, just read on and you'll see what I mean. **

_Chapter VI_ - **_Still Leaving?_**

Tohru followed Yuki all the way to a large mansion and found herself gawking with wonder and amazement at the beauty of the giant sized house. She gaped at it and said with a dazed look on her face,

"Wow... this house is so beautiful..."

Yuki smiled with a prince like manner and bowed gently, then he pointed to the door,

"The inside is even better."

Tohru's eyes widened and felt the excitement build up since she had never been inside an actual mansion before. She went up the white marble steps and stopped at the front of the house, waiting for Yuki to open the door. He stepped in front of her and she felt herself gulp as Yuki turned the golden knob on the nicely polished door. He opened up the door to uncover a giant room with a bunch of the same masked men that had attacked her a few weeks back. Tohru gasped when she realized that she had been deceived and tried to run down the steps but Yuki grabbed her arm and pushed her into the house, shutting the door and locking it behind him. His once warm and welcoming smile was replaced with an emotionless and cold one. She felt her heart beat faster when she felt all the men staring at the two of them while Yuki pushed her down a flight of stairs and into a dark gray basement where there was a lone cellar lying in the corner. She grimaced as he pushed her into the cellar with force, causing her to fall to the dusty ground with tears in her eyes.

_Okaa__-san... I need strength..._

She stared up at Yuki who shut the cell door with a slam and informed her with an emotionless voice,

"I'm sorry... but the boss will see you shortly after he is finished with his lunch."

Tohru sat there with hesitation and finally found her voice to ask,

"Why?"

Yuki whipped his head around to face her and asked,

"What?"

Tohru shook her head with dismay and said with a broken voice,

"Why are you doing this?"

Yuki searched for an answer but found himself drawing a blank,

"Because... because.... I want to,"

Tohru looked into his confused lavender eyes and said with a distraught voice,

"You must be very much in pain right now because when I first met you, I saw that you were a good person. I believe that this isn't who you **truly** are... I know that you can be so much better than this. I believe that everyone starts off as a good person and I have _faith_ that **you** are really a **kind** person underneath this cold exterior that you put on..."

Yuki felt his heart freeze from her words,

_A... good person?__ With these stained hands, how can I be a good person?_

Yuki's face fell and he turned away without another word, pondering her gentle words before going up the wooden staircase with feather light steps. Tohru watched as he disappeared up the staircase and let out a shaky breath, anticipating her waiting death. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Kyo trudged up the marble steps that led to the giant mansion on 42nd street and he knocked loudly on the shining door with the golden knocker. A few seconds later a hyper teenage boy with canary yellow hair opened up the door with a silly smile on his face,

"Ah! Sano-kun, have you taken care of the orange haired boy?"

Kyo stepped into the large room with an extremely high ceiling and grunted in a low voice,

"Yes, I have. We don't have to worry about him anymore."

The boy started to giggle and he pointed out,

"You're voice sounds funny today Sano-kun!"

Kyo felt a swear drop trickle down from his hairline and he said nervously,

"Erm... I think I have a cold coming on..."

The boy smiled gleefully and put his hand to his head in a saluting motion,

"Whatever you say Sano-kun! Anyway, I shall report the good news to the boss!"

He skipped off down the long corridor and into the giant golden doors which was probably where the boss was hidden away. Kyo glanced around and decided he needed to casually question one of these guys to see where Tohru was being kept at the moment. He strolled up to a man with a head of white hair and a splash of black hair underneath and stood in front of the guy to get his attention. When the man finally averted his black eyes into his direction Kyo asked,

"So did we capture the girl yet?"

The man had an empty look in his completely black eyes and finally answered with a monotonous voice,

"Yes... she's in the cellar downstairs."

Suddenly a cold smirk appeared on the man's face and his once empty black eyes now had a murderous glint in them,

"I can't wait to see what the boss does to her. I can't wait..."

Kyo felt himself grit his teeth at the heartless bastard, holding back the will to punch the guy senseless. He cleared his throat and held his hands behind his back, nodding as best as he could. After a while of waiting for the opportune moment he went downstairs as quickly as he could without a sound. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tohru heard soft footsteps coming down the steps and felt her heart thunder in her chest with each step. She gulped, wondering if her time had finally come. She watched with horor as a masked man with a hood over his head walked over to her cell and she couldn't help but blurt out, 

"Please... tell me why you want to kill me so badly. My mother was a **good** person, she meant no harm!"

Kyo rolled his eyes and lifted his chalk white mask so that she could see his true identity. Her hands flew to her mouth in shock when she saw that he_ wasn't_ one of the gang members and that it was indeed Kyo. Tohru rushed to the bars so that she was face to face with him and felt a surge of relief and happiness fill her heart. 

"Kyo-kun! What are you doing here?"

Kyo frowned and stated,

"What does it look like? I'm here to rescue you,"

Tohru felt her cheeks burst into flames and ahe protested with panic,

"But it's dangerous here!"

Kyo asked with a hurt expression,

"What? You don't want me to be here or something?"

Tohru's eyes dilated and she shook her head vigorously from side to side, 

"No, no! You don't know how happy and thankful I am that you're here... but..."

Kyo tilted his head with confusion and repeated her words,

"But?"

Tohru looked down, gripping the metal bars with more strength and asked,

"Why do you risk your life for a girl like me, when we've only known each other for a few months?"

_Because I love you...___

Kyo put his mask back onto his face and then turned around with a shrug and said quietly,

"I don't know..."

he went back up the stairs with Tohru watching him and praying softly in her mind, 

_Please don't let anything bad happen to him... I won't forgive myself if he gets hurt._

Kyo was back in the main room and saw that there was now a man with a kimono, who looked unhealthy, sitting in the middle of the room with all the gang members surrounding him in a huddle. Kyo sat down and joined the circle, listening to what was going on. The canary haired boy spoke up cheerfully to the boss,

"Akito-san, what do we do with Kyoko's daughter?"

Akito lay silent and still for a while, letting off a creepy killer aura as he rose from his chair, his arms dangling from side to side. Everyone froze and watched as he just stood there for a while and then he finally said,

"I think... that we should have a little bit of entertainment with Miss Honda."

An eerie smile played on his lips as he motioned for Yuki to fetch the girl from her cellar. Yuki bowed obediently and flew down the steps to the cellar. Kyo gulped and felt his hands squeeze into fists, wondering what this psycho guy was planning on doing to her.

_No matter what...__ I'll protect her. No matter what._

The gang began to cheer and clap when Yuki pushed the girl into the middle of the circle where Akito stood with the same smile pasted on his sickly white skin. In one quick movement he grabbed a fistful of Tohru's hair and she whimpered as she felt the hot tears leaking down her face. Akito pulled her hair towards him so that her face was right beneath his and he asked dangerously,

"Why are you crying?"

He grazed a stone cold finger on top of her milky white skin and brushed up a salty tear from her eyes. He then brought it to his mouth and licked off the tear from his finger. After tasting the tear drop he immediately spat it out onto the ground and threw her to the ground as well. She winced as her arms saved her from falling face first to the floor. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and said with pure disgust and hatred,

"Filthy..."

Tohru cried hopelessly on the ground and hugged her stomach,

"My mother never did anything to you...she was a kind person..."

Akito kicked her in the back so that she fell face flat onto the ground,

"Shut up you filthy maggot! She was a traitor, and so are you!"

That kick was the last straw for Kyo as he rose from his spot, blind with fury. Everyone watched as he stood up and shot him wierd looks. He then ripped off his mask and let his hood fall down to reveal his fire colored hair and crimson eyes to the world. They all stared in shock as Kyo lunged at Akito, but someone's strong grip held him back. He turned to see a pair of chilling violet eyes stare into his enraged crimson ones.

"Get the fuck offa me, pretty boy!"

The boy twisted Kyo's arms behind his back  and brought him up to Akito as if he were some prize. Akito let his smile grow into a cruel grin. He wagged a bony finger in Kyo's face and said with a little laugh,

"Such a bad boy we have here... intruding in our business. You'll pay..."

Kyo struggled but Yuki was powerful as hell. Akito leaned down and picked up a quivering Tohru onto her feet,

"Now you'll watch your woman die in front of your own eyes, won't that be fun?"

Tohru sniffed loudly and said weakly,

"Please...let him go, he has nothing to do with this. Kill me if you have to but don't hurt him."

Kyo growled and finally wrenched out of Yuki's grasp, elbowing him hard in the stomach. Yuki fell back a little, giving Kyo the chance to kick Akito in the head. Akito held his head with pain and screamed out to the rest of the gang members,

"Get this fucking nuisance out of my sight!!"

They all rose from their spots and surrounded Kyo. Kyo turned 360 degrees around to see that he was in fact completely surrounded.

_Alright Kyo, time to kick some ass.___

Tohru's eyes widened as Akito held her back from the crowd that was closing in on Kyo. She struggled to get out of his grasp but couldn't. Tears spilled from her eyes as she screamed out with all her strength,

"NOO!!!!!"

Akito smiled malignantly and said wickedly,

"Sit back and watch Honda-san."

She closed her eyes and tried to get out of his grasp again, but couldn't, she wanted to save him...desperately.

Kyo heard Tohru's scream, making his adrenaline level rise as the first guy swung at him with a flailing fist. Kyo ducked and while he was laying low he tripped a few guys so that they fell to the floor. Kyo kicked a bunch of other guys in front of him but the man with black and white hair caught him by the neck from behind and strangled him. Kyo choked for a split second and then he dug his fingers into the guy's skin and screamed as he flipped the man to the ground, knocking him out. Kyo yelled as he dodged a barrage of fists that came in his direction and began to slice at them with the knife that he had pilfered from the man he had beaten up before. Kyo now resorted to sticking the knife into anyone that came at him. After a long while of fighting he gained many scratches, bruises, and cuts, but succeeded in beating up all the surrounding men, except for one. The violet haired pretty boy. Akito smiled and thought to himself,

_No one can beat Yuki..._

Yuki put his fists up in a fighting stance and Kyo wiped some blood trickling down his lip, not sure if he had the stamina to fight this last guy.

_Damn... this guy doesn't even have a scratch on him. _

"Now you fight me..."

said Yuki icily as he ran toward Kyo with lightning fast speed. Kyo didn't even see the flying punch that hit him square in the jaw, all he felt was the pain and the blood fly through the air. His eyes widened from the pain and he flew backwards from the strength of the punch. 

_What the hell is this guy?!_

While he was still falling backwards Yuki delivered an ax kick with the same graceful speed, sending Kyo flying to the ground. Yuki walked over to the fainted body and stared down at it with a poker face.

Akito watched with amusement and whispered into Tohru's ear,

"Wasn't that fun?"

Tohru couldn't feel herself breath anymore as she looked at Kyo's unmoving and injured body.

_Kyo__... Kyo.... Kyo!!!_

Yuki grabbed the knife from Kyo's lifeless hand and raised it in the air, ready to stab him. Tohru's eyes widened and she squeezed her eyes shut, 

"STOP!!!!!!!"

Yuki's hand stopped midway because of her high pitched scream, and he looked at the crying girl that was being held captive by Akito. Akito shot Yuki an angry glare and asked with a booming tone,

"What the hell are you doing Yuki?! Kill him!!"

Yuki felt his hand start to tremble a little when he remembered the heart warming words that the girl had given to him before... for the first time in his life he was beginning to realize another self that he had never known about before. 

_"You must be very much in pain right now because when I first met you, I saw that you were a good person. I believe that this isn't who you **truly** are... I know that you can be so much better than this. I believe that everyone starts off as a good person and I have faith that **you** are really a **kind** person underneath this cold exterior that you put on..."_

Her words had stuck to him like glue and he felt his knees begins to shake along with his hands, thinking back on all the times he had stained his once clean hands with blood. He felt himself suddenly drenched in all his own guilt and innocent people's blood. He dropped the knife to the ground and clutched his head with anguish and confusion. Akito stomped on the floor like a child and yelled out with an indignant voice,

"What are you _doing?!?!!!"_

Yuki raised his shaking hands to his face, ignoring Akito's voice and pictured his fingers covered in blood...he couldn't take the killing business anymore. This wasn't who he **truly **was. Tohru watched all of this take place and thought to herself,

_He's realizing... the person he is really meant to be..._

Akito threw Tohru to the ground and she let out a little grunt when she landed. Akito rushed over to where Yuki was and snatched the knife from the ground,

"If _you're_ not doing it then _I_ will!"

Tohru's eyes widened with horror and she jumped to the rescue, grabbing Akito's raised arm with the knife in it. He screamed like a mental person and yelled crazily,

"Let go bitch!!"

Tohru held on with all the strength she wielded and finally felt the courage rise from beneath her heart,

"I won't let go!! I won't let you kill him..."

Akito screamed with pure anguish and swayed his arm furiously while Yuki watched with wide eyes, lost in his confusion. 

"LET GOOO!!!!"

He swung his hands so hard that Tohru flew off of him and slid across the floor, banging her head against the wall. She felt her vision blurring as she begged weakly to Kyo,

"Kyo-kun... please... wake up,"

then she fainted. Akito gripped the knife again and then just as he stabbed downward Kyo's eyes flew open at the sound of Tohru's angelic voice. He rolled to the other side so that the knife stabbed only the floor. Kyo jumped up from the ground and saw an angry Akito chase after him with the knife. Kyo growled angrily and kicked the knife right out of his hand and said fiercly,

"You touched Tohru with your disgusting hands... I won't forgive you!!!"

Kyo sent his hardest punch into Akito's face, making it bleed all over. Akito fell to the ground with red liquid pouring down the sides of his face. The knife rolled from his twitching fingers and then he fainted without a word. Kyo glared at Yuki who was staring at the scene with despair in his eyes. Kyo walked over to him and said in a repulsed voice, 

"And you... you are just as filthy and disgusting..."

Yuki bowed his head down and then said softly,

"I deserve to die... kill me."

Kyo was taken aback by his command and thought that he was mocking him so he sent a hard punch right into the guy's delicate face. Yuki fell to the floor without even fighting back and repeated,

"Kill me... kill me..."

Kyo put his foot on top of Yuki's chest and said dangerously,

"I won't kill you... but I _will_ beat the crap out of you."

A lone tear streaked down the boy's face as Kyo kicked him in the head ruthlessly, making him faint. Kyo sighed with relief and surveyed the room, grimacing at the mess of bodies that lay on the ground. His eye suddenly caught on a fainted Tohru who was also laying on the ground near the wall. He rushed to her side and picked her up, shaking her gently,

"Tohru! Wake up!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tohru opened her eyes slowly and felt the moonlight pour into her squinting eyes. 

_Where am I?_

When her eyes finally got it's full sight back, she found that she was back in her own room and wondered if it was all a dream, but then she saw Kyo walk into the room and felt all the memories flood back into her head. Kyo saw her awake and sat down next to her on the bed,

"You're awake... I'm glad."

Tohru put her hands to her forehead and asked,

"What...happened?" 

Kyo brushed a strand of chocolate hair from her face and he said softly,

"They're all in jail now... so you never have to worry ever again. I told you I'd rescue you."

Tohru saw his vacant hand lay on top of the bed and wrapped her fingers around his hand. He blushed a petal rose color and saw her eyes suddenly lock onto the giant cut on his shoulder. She gasped and moved her hands from his, placing them on top of the wound,

"You're going to need a bandage!"

Kyo smirked and replied,

"You don't have any bandages, remember?"

Tohru blushed and then remembered the bandana in her pocket. She reached into her jacket pocket and took out his black bandana and wrapped it around his injury with one swift knot. Kyo looked to his side to see the bandana that had once been on her wound now covering his. He lifted up his left hand to place his hand over her hands that were still on his shoulder. He felt a smile tug at his lips and he saw Tohru smile back at him with a cherry colored face. They sat there for a while just looking into each other's eyes, not wanting to say a word. Tohru then felt a strange sense of melancholy feelings conquer her happiness. Tohru pursed her lips together and slipped her hands out of his warm hands and placed them on top of the bedspread. Kyo blinked a couple of times and asked,

"What's wrong?"

Tohru could barely speak right now so she said with a soft whisper,

"I have to go now."

Kyo scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion and asked,

"Where? You live here, remember?"

Tohru shook her head sadly and looked at him with her sad brown eyes,

"To America."

**REVIEWSSS PLEASE :D thanks ;] **

**phew****... another chapter over with whohoOoo! I hope you all are enjoying the story so far. Anyway, i gotta go and think up more ideas now, til' next time! Byee **


	7. The Reason

**Thank you all for the reviews, I feel so damn happy! ^___^ anyway, enjoy the next dose of the story. **

_Recap..._

_"I have to go now."_

_Kyo scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion and asked,_

_"Where? You live here, remember?"_

_Tohru shook her head sadly and looked at him with her sad brown eyes,_

_"To __America__."_

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Chapter VII_**_ - The Reason_**

Kyo's jaw dropped open and he looked like a fish as he opened and closed his mouth numerous times. In a minute or so his voice returned and he sputtered out,

"But why?! There's no more danger!"

Tohru smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle on the bedspread and said quietly,

"Because... I don't deserve to be around you, I'm such a huge burden for you and I hate that. I can't live with myself like that so I want to start a new life in a new place where I can get away from everything."

Kyo was so shocked and frustrated at the same time as he raised his voice and said,

"Dammit! For the last time, it's not your fault! So stop blaming yourself for five seconds and look at the bigger picture, after that, maybe you'll see that you have to stay!"

Tohru felt some of the passion taint her voice as she asked,

"_Why?!!_ Why do you want me to stay?!"

"Because..."

Tohru looked at him expectantly, waiting for an answer to be received. Kyo flicked his eyes to the right and then to the left, feeling the pressure weigh him down. He had never wanted someone like this before, but he certainly wasn't going to admit that to her face, so he decided on saying the closest thing on his mind,

"Because...I care about you!"

He saw a slow smile form on her face and knew that he had said the right thing. Her hazel eyes brightened up and her skin lit up so that it looked like it was practically glowing with the pale moonlight shining upon it. His blush deepened to a crimson color and he felt his body overheat. Her pink lips lifted into a wider smile and she asked sweetly,

"Do you really mean that?"

Kyo nodded slowly and he muttered under his breath,

"I do..."

Tohru jumped forward and hugged him tightly with tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Thank you"

Kyo awkwardly placed his hands around her and then closed his eyes, taking in the scent of her soft hair.

"No... thank_ you"_

_---------------------------------------_

_I'm not a perfect person_

_As many things I wish I didn't do_

_But I continue learning_

_I never meant to do those things to you_

_I've found a reason for me_

_To change who I used to be_

_A reason to start over new_

_and the reason is you_

_----------------------------------------_

Tohru continued to work at the bakery and when she stepped outside at the end of her shift she saw Kyo leaning against the wall with his hands stuffed bashfully into his pockets. Tohru smiled and walked up to him, giving him a pleasant wave,

"Hey Kyo-kun."

Kyo shot her an awkward grin and put up his hand in a lazy wave,

"Yo."

Tohru looked down at her feet and then back into his eyes,

"Ano... were you waiting for me?"

Kyo let out an exasperated sigh and asked with annoyance,

"Who else would I be waiting for?!"

Tohru blushed deeply and she cringed with embarrassment,

"I'm sorry! A-Ano, I didn't know that you were going to be waiting for me, b-but I'm very thankful!"

Kyo looked down, feeling his face burn,

"You don't have to keep apologizing... for everything."

Kyo swooped his fingers through his tousled hair and muttered quietly to her,

"You know what? I think I'll just go home."

Tohru panicked and grabbed his arm with urgency,

"No, wait! I don't want you to leave. I'm sorry if I said anything offensive...I mean, I'm not sorry...I mean I'm…ano…"

Tohru was stuttering and rambling now, making Kyo sigh, knowing that she wasn't getting the hint that he had intended to walk her home. Before he could say another word she took the words right from his mouth,

"Would you like to walk me home? …Only if you want to though." 

Kyo opened his mouth, but no sound came out so he just nodded his head in agreement and walked ahead of her, with her following close behind.

_----------------------------------------_

_I'm sorry that I hurt you_

_It's something I must live with everyday_

_And all the pain I put you through_

_I wish that I could take it all away_

_And be the one who catches all your tears_

_That's why I need you to hear_

_I've found a reason for me_

_To change who I used to be_

_A reason to start over new_

_and the reason is you_

_------------------------------------------------_

It was Saturday night and Kyo was wiping the tables clean at his night job. He worked on the weekends as a bartender late at night in a club. Kyo threw the cloth down onto the table and looked up at the clock and saw that it was only one o' clock; he had to stay until at least three A.M. 

It seemed like forever when the clock reached three. Kyo poured his last cup of beer and then snaked his way out of the moving bodies. When he pushed open the metal doors he sucked in the fresh oxygen and blew out a long sigh of relief. He trudged up the silent road back home and stopped in front of his apartment building, unable to control the will to glance over at the bakery across the street...wondering what Tohru was thinking right now.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next afternoon he waited for her outside of the bakery again and dropped his cigarette immediately when she stepped out of the swinging doors. He straightened his back up and then gave her his usual bashful smile before walking her home. After a long while of silence Tohru threw a random question at him,

"Ano... can I ask you something?"

Kyo shrugged and replied,

"Go ahead."

Tohru clasped her hands together and asked,

"I was wondering... if you had a job."

Kyo's eyes widened and he couldn't help but blurt out angrily,

"What made you ask such a pointless question?!"

Tohru quickly apologized and wished that she hadn't ever asked that question,

"I'm sorry... I just wanted to know more about you."

Kyo's mouth opened a little and he couldn't believe this girl. She actually wanted to know more about a guy like _him._ He put his hands into his pockets as a nervous habit and muttered quietly,

"Sorry for yellin..."

Kyo cleared his throat and began,

"Well...anyway, I do have a job. I work as a...um... a bartender at a club down a few blocks from here."

Tohru's eyes widened and she felt a grin coming on,

"Really?! That's amazing."

"It's not amazing..."

Tohru smiled at him and thought to herself happily,

_I've learnt something new about Kyo... I hope I learn more about him as days go by, I'm so glad that he is becoming more open with me._

When Kyo got back home he was so exhausted that he fell asleep right away on top of his messy bed. 

_----------------------------------------------_

_Dream Sequence~_

_Ayumi's laughter sounded through his mind and he saw her standing in a sea of flowers. She spun around and then faced him completely with a smile on her cherry colored lips. She picked up a white tulip from the ground and held it to her chin, exclaiming loudly to him, _

_"Kyo-kun! I want to be with you forever!"_

_Kyo opened his mouth to give her an answer,_

_"I want to be with y--"_

_Her face was suddenly replaced with Tohru's for a split second and he blinked rapidly to see if his vision was correct. He opened up his eyes again and saw that it was still Ayumi looking at him expectantly. Kyo tried to restart his sentence again but failed,_

_"I want...to be with...um... I want...to..."_

_"Kyo-kun, are you okay? You sound like you've seen a ghost or something,"_

_she said with a look of concern pouring over her happy features. She walked up to him and placed a warm hand on his cheek and asked sweetly,_

_"You do want to be with me right? You love me right?"_

_Kyo was at loss of words and his mind had been spilt into two. He finally answered in a hoarse voice,_

_"I don't know..."_

_Ayumi gasped and her smile vanished from her lips and her eyes clouded with a whirl of dark colors. Her expression had darkened and she asked him with a hate filled voice,_

_"Y-You don't love me?! You promised you'd **always** love me! You **promised**!! You can't break a promise!"_

_Kyo could feel the hot tears sting the back of his eyelids and he grabbed her rigid shoulders,_

_"I **do** love you! Deep in my heart I do, and I always will... but... but I'm in love with another woman right now."_

_Ayumi swatted his arms off of her as if it were infected and said with a disgusted voice,_

_"You traitor...I hate you..."_

Kyo's eyes snapped open and he squeezed them shut, wondering if he is really was betraying her. He kept trying to tell himself that it was just a stupid dream... but he somehow couldn't help but feel guilty. While she was dead somewhere, he was out here thinking about another woman. 

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------_

The next day that Kyo was waiting outside for Tohru he seemed to have an aura of depression surrounding him. She frowned and asked him with a genuinely concerned voice,

"Are you okay?"

Kyo put his hand over his forehead and groaned out loud,

"Eh...yea....I...just feel a little stressed out today I guess..."

Tohru placed her fingertip on top of her chin and then grabbed his hand, pulling him down the road when a bright idea floated into her head. As she was pulling him along the road he asked curiously,

"What are you doing?"

"I want to show you a great way of removing stress. This way,"

She led him all the way to a park, which was secluded since it was hitting nightfall. Tohru put her hands behind her back and faced him fully with a giant smile plastered to her face. She then put her hands on her hips and commanded simply,

"Close you eyes."

Kyo shot her a strange look and demanded,

"What? Why?"

Tohru pleaded innocently with giant puppy dog eyes,

"Please?"

"I don't know why I put up with this crap..."

He closed his eyes with an exasperated sigh and waited for her next wacky suggestion. She grinned and then said, 

"Now, I want you to scream as loud as you can."

Kyo's eyes flew open and he argued with anger,

"NO WAY! I'm not embarrassing myself by screaming like an idiot, no way!"

Tohru put her hand over her mouth and let out a muffled giggle, and then she laced her fingers together trying hard to persuade him,

"Cmon! It's very relaxing...I promise. It sets your soul free, and it also gets pent up feelings out in the open without actually having to say anything…hey, you know what? I'll even scream with you! It'll be fun."

Kyo couldn't believe his ears,

"....I don't know where you think these things up...."

Tohru smiled proudly and gave him a sideway glance,

"My mother told me that it's a very healthy thing to do when you're feeling packed with emotions."

Kyo sighed and bowed his head down in defeat,

"Fine, I'll do it, but only cuz you're so damn stubborn."

Tohru clapped her hands together in excitement and grinned widely,

"Okay! On the count of three. Ready?"

Kyo couldn't help but smile at her excitement. He rolled his eyes with amusement before shutting them and nodding tersely with confirmation,

"Ready."

Tohru closed her eyes and put her head up to the sky, beginning the countdown,

"1....2.......3!"

They both took deep breaths and let out the loudest screams that they could muster.

_-------------------------------_

_I've found a reason to show_

_A side of me you didn't know_

_A reason for all that I do_

_And the reason is you_

**_Hoobastank - The Reason_**

_-------------------------------_

**REVIEWS PLEASE! :p thanks so much. **


	8. Reborn

**THANK FOR ALL THE REVIEWS!!! I feel so happy to have reached past the 100 mark for reviews, YAYY! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. **

_Chapter VIIII_ - **_Reborn_**

They both collapsed into fits of laughter after their little scream fest and Tohru plopped herself down onto a nearby swing, still laughing a little. She turned her head slightly to see Kyo hunched over, laughing silently while standing near a pole. She tilted her head curiously and asked him, 

"Don't you feel so much better?"

Kyo smirked at her and answered,

"Maybe a _little_..."

Tohru smiled back and took a deep breath of the fresh air that entered her lungs. She pushed her feet up and swung gently, letting the soft breeze tousle her chestnut hair. She leaned her head back, letting out a soft sigh of satisfaction and said nostalgically with a small smile playing on her lips,

"I love the feel of the wind blowing like this while swinging; it makes me feel like I'm three all over again… it reminds me of the better times when my mother used to take me to the park when I was little and push me on these very swings. Those were some wonderful moments… Kyo-kun, do you have any moments that you treasure?"

Kyo looked at her in surprise and then looked down at the black pavement, racking his brain desperately, but he couldn't seem to remember a clear time when he had been truly happy when he was a child. His childhood hadn't been exactly fun and games…he was quite a sad child. When she saw his down turned lips she immediately felt an enormous amount of guilt weigh her down, realizing that she had asked such a personal question. She bit her lower lip and apologized for being inconsiderate,

"I'm sorry for asking such a personal question."

Kyo sighed and slowly shook his head at her, then said,

"What did I say about apologizin' all the time? You don't have to be so polite around me you know..."

Tohru's cheeks burned and she obediently nodded. Then she gripped the metal chains of the swings and her swinging motion began to slow down as she asked,

"Ano... then can I ask you something else?"

Kyo rolled his eyes and sighed, thinking about how she was never going to change and told her lazily,

"You don't have to get my permission to ask me something, just ask it."

"Y-Yes!"

Tohru cleared her throat loudly and continued,

"Okay, well...do you remember the night when you gave me your black bandana?"

_Of course I do..._

"Yea..."

She had now come to a complete stop on the swings and her knuckles were actually white from how hard she was gripping the chains. She gulped and glanced at him for a second before averting her eyes back to the pattern on her skirt,

"Um...well...I was just wondering if it...if it...**meant** anything to you."

_Of course it did! ...But whenever I think about the kiss, I start to get a feeling of **guilt** in my heart..._

He leaned on the pole nearby and stared up at the gray moon that stared back at him with glowing eyes. He braced himself and said with a low voice,

"I...um... I guess I was just in the moment, you know what I mean? Didn't mean anything..."

She nodded, looking straight ahead into nothing, lost in her own world of thoughts, and whispered out,

"I see..."

Kyo glanced at her blank expression and asked,

"Are... you okay?"

In an instant, Tohru's expression changed from a once blank one into cheerful exterior when she faced him again,

"Of course! I think its better that we're friends anyway."

Kyo forced on a small smile and said softly,

"...Yea...me too."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"There will be a new student joining us today,"

announced the teacher at the front of Tohru's classroom. He pointed at a scrawny type kid with thick brown glasses and shaking hands cringing at the front of the classroom, hunching back a little from the weight of his enormous backpack. The teacher smiled and encouraged him to speak,

"Now, please introduce yourself."

The boy looked around nervously and looked like he was about to hurl as he stuttered out his name,

"M-My name is H-Haruno Mitsuki."

There were a few scattered snickers that were heard throughout the classroom which made Mitsuki cringe and flush into a tomato red color. He looked like he was about to cry and hurl at the same time when he rushed to the nearest empty seat in the back of the room, which was right behind Tohru. She heard him sigh with relief when he sunk into his seat. She turned around from her seat, with a smile, and introduced herself,

"Hello! My name is Honda Tohru, nice to meet you."

He began to sweat even more now that a **girl** was talking to him. He gulped silently and suddenly felt very dehydrated. Uo snickered from the seat next to Tohru and looked at the strange kid sitting behind Tohru. She raised an arched eyebrow and asked jokingly,

"Are ya mute or something?"

He sank lower into his chair but Tohru just kept on smiling at him. She pointed at Uo and said kindly,

"This is Arisa Uotani, she is my friend; she didn't mean anything by what she said. Anyway, it must be hard being the new kid right? I understand because I was once one too. Well, if you need any help, please don't hesitate to ask either of us."

Mitsuki blinked at the girl's kindness and felt himself slowly beginning to fall for Tohru. He lifted his lips up into a awkward grin and said greatfully,

"T-Thank you."

Tohru smiled and turned back around in her seat, letting Mitsuki stare dreamily at the back of her head. After school Mitsuki tagged along with Tohru and asked her with a lovesick voice,

"Would you like to grab a bite to eat right now?"

Tohru's eyebrows drew down and she said with disappointment,

"I wish I could, but I have to go to work. I work at the bakery down a few blocks; you can come by if you want."

Mitsuki sighed with happiness and you could nearly see the little hearts spilling out from his eyes. He asked with a overly sweet voice, 

"May I accompany you to the bakery?"

Tohru nodded happily, completely oblivious to his feelings towards her, and thought to herself,

_This is wonderful! I've made another new friend. I'm so happy._

From behind the school Kyo was smoking at the usual brick wall and spotted Tohru and a creepy kid on the other side of the fence walking together. 

_Who's the creepy kid? Hmph...Probably just some classmate I guess, I'll ask her about that later._

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After work Tohru stretched her arms out and stepped outside to see Kyo leaning outside on the wall of the bakery, like he always did, and she felt her lips stretch in an upward stroke for no exact reason. She felt feelings of happiness flutter throughout her body, but her brain ordered those happy feelings to disappear because she couldn't allow any of these non-friend related feelings creep up on her. She walked up to him and then they both began to walk up the road to her house. Kyo glanced at her and then looked back straight ahead, asking,

"So, I saw you walking with this creepy lookin kid after school, anyone you know?"

Tohru giggled a little and said laughingly,

"Oh, that was just the new student Haruno Mitsuki! He was just dropping by at the bakery to pick up some bread, a very kind boy he was."

Kyo nodded curtly and gritted his teeth together, pushing the jealous thoughts out of his system, and said simply,

"Oh."

Tohru saw his face tighten and asked with concern,

"Is everything alright?"

Kyo snapped back into reality and gave her a reassuring nod,

"Huh? Oh, yea."

"So how was everything at school?"

Kyo shrugged and put his hands into his pocket,

"Eh... just the same ol' usual yelling from teachers and such."

"Do the teachers always yell at you?"

Kyo chuckled under his breath and said with a mischievous grin on his face,

"Yea, its a hobby of theirs."

Tohru nodded and asked,

"So, what are you planning to do after graduation anyway?"

Kyo looked up at the darkening sky and blew out a sigh and said,

"Eh...I wasn't really planning on going to college or anything. I don't have the grades or the money to get into anything."

"Do you regret that decision?"

"To tell you the truth, sometimes I do... but I can't go back in time and change my life."

Tohru tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ears and hugged herself to keep from the cold,

"I don't think that I want to go to college either... I mean I do, but I just don't have the money."

Kyo suddenly felt a strange sense of sympathy wash over him. He felt so sorry that a person so pure hearted, and kind had to give up on her future just like that. He bit his lower lip and said for once without his signature bitter voice,

"I'm sure that you will succeed in whatever you want... because people like you are meant to have a future."

She felt her heart rate speed up and in that moment she forgot about not having different feelings for him. She gave him a heartfelt smile that made his heart turn in twenty different directions and she whispered breathlessly,

"Thank you."

Kyo licked his dry lips and replied in a cracked voice,

"No problem."

Tohru's eyes sparkled as she held up her fist and told him with a voice of encouragement,

"I think that you are a person that is meant to have a great future too! I'm sure of it!"

Kyo nearly laughed out loud at the thought of actually having a wonderful future ahead of him. He had always pictured himself as being one of those disheveled men outside on the streets pegging people for money and picking up pennies on the road. He chuckled under his breath and said,

"Feh...me? Meant to have a future? That's a funny thought."

Tohru pouted and said with her never ending hope,

"Nothing is impossible..."

Kyo blushed slightly, then broke into a smile,

"You know, you're really optimistic."

Tohru felt herself smile back and she replied simply,

"That's the way I am."

"…I like that."

Tohru's eyes widened and her heart felt like it was on flames as it thumped loudly in her chest. They stopped at the front of her apartment and she looked up into his maroon colored eyes with shyness,

"Thank you for walking me home Kyo-kun, good night."

Kyo took his left hand out from his pocket and gave her a little wave,

"Good night."

Tohru gave him one last smile and he watched her as she went into the building, wondering if maybe his future wouldn't be all that bad.

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The next morning at school, Mitsuki watched as Tohru walked into the classroom with Uo standing next to her and he rushed up to her with a bouquet of flowers gripped in his small sweaty hands. Her eyes widened as he stuffed the flowers right under her nose and Uo let out a snort from her laughter and crossed her arms over her chest as she watched the little scene play out. A little sweat drop formed at the top of Tohru's forehead and she asked apprehensively,

"A-Ah, what is this for?"

She took the flowers from him gingerly and saw his blushing cheeks. That's when it finally hit her in the head like a large brick. 

_How could I have not noticed before??_

Mitsuki squared his bony shoulders and put his feet together in a nervous manner. He even began to shake a little causing Uo to snicker and whisper in Tohru's ear,

"I think that he's going to faint or something..."

Tohru stared at Mitsuki with concern and asked,

"Are you okay Mitsuki-san?"

Mitsuki nodded and finally blurted out his confession,

"I'm in love with you!"

Tohru froze and Uo's eyes widened with amusement,

"W-what?"

Mitsuki watched as the shock registered across her face and waited for her reply with crossed his fingers for an affirmative answer. However, the next two words that fell from her mouth were,

"I'm sorry..."

His hopes soared down and he felt his world crumble apart. Tohru saw his devastated look and waved her hands in the air frantically,

"I'm so sorry, but I must be honest with you... I see you as just a friend and I always will."

Mitsuki held back his tears and nodded strongly at her,

"You are such a kind person Honda-san. Any other girl would have turned me down once they looked at me, but you accepted me...and talked to me without even knowing me... I want to thank you for that."

He gave her a little bow and she smiled warmly at him, thankful that they were still friends. 

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Kyo watched Tohru step out of the bakery with a bouquet of roses in her hands and immediately felt a wave of jealousy pass through him. He felt his muscles tense and he eyed the flowers angrily and asked,

"So who are those from?"

Tohru smiled and said casually, not noticing his jealousy,

"These were from Mitsuki-san."

Kyo gritted his teeth together and held back his jealousy from bursting out. He just nodded shortly and walked her the rest of the way home with a bad mood. When he got home he felt worse than ever. He flopped down on his bed and groaned with frustration,

_Why can't I stop being such a jealous pig?? You're the one that ruined the chances right?_

Kyo took a few deep breaths to calm down and his eye caught onto a dusty picture frame sitting on top of the table next to his bed. He sat up and took the picture off from the table, touching the photo with his fingertips, wiping off the surface of dust that had layered on top of the photograph. It was a picture of Ayumi and him, hugging each other, but the picture had a noticeable crack going right down the middle now. He felt his eyes fill with moisture when he thought about the day of her death. They had been walking home from their three year anniversary and out of nowhere, right in the middle of the streets of Tokyo, she was hit by a speeding car. The doctors had said that there was no hope for her and that they were truly sorry for his loss. He remembered the heart wrenching pain he had gone through after that, he had been devastated since he had lost his parents first and then his first love. He had been completely isolated. Now he found Tohru, and he knew that he loved her but he still insisted on pushing her away... was it a defense mechanism that he had? 

_I've got to end this madness..._

He shoved the picture frame underneath his bed and decided that he wanted to start a new life. Up until now, he had been leading a life full of regrets ever since _her_ death. He had started failing in life, taking up bad habits, and pushing away from the people he cared about... but now it was the time to stop. Reality had hit him smack in the face today and he was going to take charge of this. He was going to change his life. Start over.  

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Back at the bakery Tohru was wiping the counters clean when a tall, handsome boy that looked not much older than Tohru entered the bakery. He had jet black hair with a touch of brown tinting the roots and he had eyes that were like pools of water. He walked over to the table and Tohru said with a smile on her face,

"I'm sorry, but we're closed right now."

He gave her a charming smile and said with a suave voice,

"I'm not here to buy anything, I'm here to be your partner."

Tohru gave him a funny look and asked with confusion,

"Wh-what?"

The boy chuckled and said apologetically,

"I'm so sorry, I'm Aito Hikaru, I was hired to work here yesterday because I applied a few days ago... so I guess we'll be working partners from now on."

He extended out his hand and kept his charming smile pasted to his face. She felt her lips turn up, feeling happy that she could become friends with another new person. She placed her small hand into his, shaking his hands earnestly and said, 

"Nice to meet you Aito-san, my name is Honda Tohru."

**REVIEWS PLEASE&THANKS**


	9. Fallen

**THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS YOU PEOPLE ROCK SOCKS**

_Chapter IX__ -** Fallen**_

     It was a bright Saturday morning and Kyo felt refreshed and renewed as he hopped out of his bed. He was so ready to start his new day as a new man. He smiled as he changed his clothes and showered, last night he had come to the conclusion of revealing his feelings for Tohru today. 

Today was definitely the day. 

The sun warmed his body when he swung open the grimy old door to his apartment. He stepped outside, sucking in the fresh air, and then he began to head to her house. On his way there he saw from a distance that she was walking towards him. His eyes widened and his breathing got heavier as she neared closer and closer to him. He clenched his teeth together and willed himself to gain back his cool and casual exterior. This was _not_ how he had planned his confession in his mind the other night. He had planned on going to her house, ringing her doorbell, and then she would answer with her usual smile on her face. Then he would go into her house and tell her exactly how he felt about her. He even had a whole speech ready, and it was crumpled up in his pocket somewhere. 

He gulped and lifted a sweaty palm in the air to wave casually at her.

_I guess I'll just have to improvise the plan... dammit, stop being so nervous! You're being such a wuss..._

She smiled and waved back energetically, stopping in front of him, and said cheerfully,

"Good morning Kyo-kun, where are you headed?"

Kyo felt embarrassed as his cheeks felt like they were on fire and his hands were drenched in sweat. He stuffed them in the pockets of his cargo pants and felt the crumpled ball of paper deep down in his pocket. He finally mumbled out quietly,

"Uh... I was gonna go to the.... park."

Tohru giggled softly while pointing in the direction that he was walking away from and said,

"The park is that way though."

Kyo's cheeks blazed and formed a deep shade of crimson. He squeezed his fists together and he looked to his side bashfully,

"Well...I... I was going this way because I was going to... take another route to the park.

Tohru nodded gullibly and nodded her head in the direction she was walking to and said,

"Well I was just going to get some groceries, so I guess I'll talk to you later Kyo-kun."

Kyo gulped and asked,

"Is it okay if I come with?"

Tohru gave him a questionable look and tilted her head to the right,

"But I thought you were going to the park."

Kyo shrugged and said with his most casual voice,

"Eh, I don't really feel like it too much..."

She smiled contently and they began to walk side by side to the grocery shop. 

_Tell her already!_

Kyo gulped and felt himself getting extremely overheated, he was sure that she could see the large drops of sweat slipping down the sides of his face. He felt his throat get scratchy, but he knew he had to say it now or never,

"Tohru... I...I have to tell you something..."

Just when she looked his way he was interrupted by a girl that tapped Tohru on the shoulder. She had long dirty blonde hair and it was thouroughly side parted. Kyo shot her a dirty look since she had just ruined the entire moment and watched grouchily as Tohru's eyes widened. She said with surprise,

"Uo-san! Such a pleasant surprise to see you here, where are you going?"

Uo put her hands comfortable behind her head and said casually,

"Just goin' for a walk, what about you?"

Kyo felt himself boil and he muttered loudly,

"I was talkin' to her you know..."

Uo's eyes flicked to the left and she spotted Kyo standing in back of Tohru with his arms crossed angrily over his chest. He was tapping his foot impatiently against the pavement giving Uo death glare. Tohru whipped her head around and said apologetically to him,

"I'm so sorry! What were you going to say Kyo-kun?"

Kyo looked down at the ground and he let out a sigh of frustration,

"Nothing..."

Uo's pupils dilated and she asked incredulously,

"Sohma Kyo?!"

Kyo rolled his eyes and said with annoyance,

"Who else could I be?"

Uo smirked and just let out a snort before giving Tohru a little wave,

"Well... I don't want to be around some hot tempered carrot top...I gotta get goin' now, I'll see you at school later, bye."

She leaned down next to Tohru's ear and whispered with an admonishing voice,

"Be careful..."

and then she walked off into the distance smirking at what a weird couple Sohma Kyo and her were. Kyo said indignantly as she left,

"_What _did she call me?!"

Tohru turned back to Kyo happily and clasped her hands together,

"I'm sure she was just teasing Kyo-kun. Anyway, are you sure you didn't have something to say?"

_Damn... I can't say it now, I've lost the moment, and needless to say I've lost the courage too..._

Kyo scratched the back of his head and waved his hand in the air to dismiss the subject,

"Nah, it was nothing..."

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_Attempt#2...._

Kyo went into the bakery later that evening to try once again and found her placing a cake into the display case. When he entered she looked up from her spot and smiled at him,

"Hey Kyo-kun!"

Kyo smiled warmly back at her and leaned over the counter,

"Tohru? Um.. I kinda ha--"

The back door swung open and Hikaru swooped in swiftly. He had a chesire grin on as he stood next to Tohru. 

"Hey sir, can I get you anything?"

Kyo gave him a dirty look and said haughtily,

"Who the hell are you?"

The guy was taken aback by the customer's rudeness and put up his hands in defense,

"Hey man, I work here... I just wanted to know if you needed any help."

Tohru looked back and forth from Hikaru to Kyo nervously and explained,

"A-Ano, this is Aito Hikaru! He was just hired to work here."

Kyo looked at Hikaru and scowled angrily at him for ruining the moment. Kyo just muttered unfer his breath,

"Look, I'm gonna go now... talk to you later Tohru,"

Tohru looked dissappointed as she watched his retreating back,

"See ya..."

Kyo stormed down the streets with frustration, and decided that he would** have** to confess when walking her home or he would definitely lose his mind. 

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After a long hard day of work Tohru sighed and wiped down the last few circular tables with a washcloth. In a few moments a hand suddenly clasped onto her shoulder, making her jump back and into someone's strong arms. She turned around quickly to see that she was face to face with Hikaru and hew cheeks flushed to a rosy pink color as she squeaked out,

"Sorry,"

she tried to move away from his view but he continued to block her and he said with a grin,

"Honda-san? DId you know you're really beautiful?"

She blushed a deeper shade of red and moved her head lower to avoid eye contact. He lifted up her chin and then before she could even think, he put his lips on top of hers. 

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It was eight o' clock and Kyo let out a deep breath as he reached into his pocket which held his confession speech in it. 

_Alright Kyo... you can do this!_

He walked up to the doorway and he stopped in his tracks and his heart stopped functioning when he saw the sight of Tohru and Hikaru kissing through the giant glass window.

Kyo's jaw dropped open and he tore his eyes away before he could see another second of that horrific scene. He raced away from the bakery as fast as he could and stormed through the lighted streets of Tokyo angrily. He couldn't believe what he had just seen... was this fate's way of saying that there was absolutely no more hope for him to find love? He felt hot tears sting his eyes but he blinked them back and gulped as he raced down the streets. 

_...Why does everything have to be so fucked up? I'm always screwing things up…_

He needed a place to blow off some steam and he knew just the place. The club. He walked inside of the place where he worked at and wormed his way through the gyrating bodies. He reached the bartender and said bitterly,

"Give me some beer..."

The bartender nodded and slid a mug of beer into his direction. Kyo took the mug by the handle and downed it in a second. After a couple of drinks he was wobbling around like an idiot on the dancefloor. He stumbled out of the double doors of the club and staggered through the streets, feeling very very nauseous. He could barely see straight as he crossed a busy street... before he knew it everything blacked out. 

Ambulance sirens began to ring and people began to crowd...

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Tohru pushed Hikaru away from her after a second from the kiss and shook her head,

"I'm sorry... but I just want us to be friends."

Hikaru pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, obviously not used to rejection, and said with a disgusted voice,

"Yeah... whatever."

Hikaru stormed out of the bakery, leaving Tohru standing by herself alone in the bakery. She sighed and wiped down the last table clean before closing up and leaving the bakery. Once she left she found that the streets were empty and she looked to her left and then to her right to make sure. Her eyebrows creased together and she bit her lower lip as she looked around frantically for Kyo. 

_I wonder where he went?_

Tohru waited a few more minutes outside, but he didn't arrive. She bit her lower lip again and looked at her watch one last time and felt a sense of worried feelings wash over he body

_...is he hurt?_

Tohru finally gave up after five more minutes of waiting and decided on going to his house to check on him. She walked across the street to his apartment building and climbed up the flight of stairs to room 218. She knocked lightly on the door and waited a while before knocking three more times, but louder. She waited a while outside of the door, hoping that it would fling open, but it stayed closed. She felt dissappointed and sad as she slumped down the two flights of stairs. She stepped outside and began to walk back to her house, but along cherry lane she saw a large crowd forming around in the middle of the street. They were all huddled around a wailing ambulance truck and murmuring about the tragedy. Tohru felt her concern get the best of her as she walked up to the large crowd. As she neared closer to the crowd her heart began to speed up in her chest and she felt the atmosphere get darker and darker. She squeezed her way through the crowd and held her breath when she reached the front of the crowd. She put her hands over her mouth and and gasped when she saw Kyo with a white face and covered in blood on top of a stretcher. She rushed to his side but the emergency men told her to stand back as they hoisted up the stretcher and pushed him into the back of the truck. Tohru yelled,

"Wait! Please, let me be with him!"

They saw her pained and shocked expression and let her in the ambulance truck so that she could sit with him along the ride. She felt the tears soak her skin as she watched his unmoving body. She felt sick to her stomach all of the sudden and felt like barfing. When they finally reached the hospital she ran with the doctors through the corridors of the hospital, but when she tried to follow them into the emergency room a doctor stood in her way and said with sorrow,

"Excuse me miss, but you're not allowed in the emergency room, you will have to wait in the waiting room... I'm sorry."

Tohru bowed her head down and nodded sadly, letting the the tears stream down her face as she walked slowly into the waiting room, hoping to hear the good news.

_to__ be continued..._

**REVIEWS PRETTY PLEASEE :D**


	10. Tomorrow

**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS. **

A/N: Someone asked me why Kyo didn't change when he got hugged. Well, it's because this is an AU (Alternate Universe) version of Fruits Basket, which means that the characters and their personalities are the same, but the story and stuff about changing is different. Hope that clears things up :D Anyways, enjoy the chapter ;]

_Chapter X_** - _Tomorrow_**

_It's so... cold._

Kyo shivered as he walked through a scene of pure black color. The air was extremely chilling and he felt another creepy chill scamper through his spine again, causing yet another shiver. He walked through the tunnel of darkness, wondering where he was headed and decided to just keep on walking, walking, and walking until he finally tripped on his own feet and fell down to his knees where he sat there, his chest rising heavily up and down. That's when he just broke down and cried... 

Out of no where an outstretched pale hand reached out for him, making him look up with surprise. The female voice was soothing and full of comfort when she said his name gently, 

"Kyo-chan..."

Kyo stared up at the woman with the oval shaped face, light brown hair and a jubilant smile on her pale colored face. He opened his mouth with a dazed look and croaked out,

"M-Mother?"

He placed his hand into her warm hand and pulled himself up to his feet where he felt shaky on his weak knees.

_What's going on...?_

She smiled pleasantly at him and asked lovingly,

"Kyo-chan, you know that I love you?"

_Is this a dream…?_

"Yea...I love you too..."

Kyo reached out to hug her but then her gasp for life made him snap backwards in surprise. It was all in slow motion as he took in a large gulp of air and watched as the blood spurted out from her heart like a sprinkler. He used his arms to shield himself from the blood that splattered onto his trembling arms. Acidy tears stung his eyelids painfully as he took in deep and heavy breaths. He slowly put his shaking hands down from his eyes and lifted his eyes back to where she had been standing, but now she was gone... 

Before another thought could run through his mind he turned around and broke into a run but stumbled backwards when he nearly crashed into Ayumi who was standing right in front of him. He tried to move away from her but she blocked his way. She pouted while giving him a hurt expression and asked,

"What's wrong Kyo-kun?"

Kyo felt like everything was so messed up right now and pushed her out of his way, screaming,

"Get out of my way!! This isn't real!!"

Ayumi fell over and began to laugh happily for a while, but the laughter began to fade in a matter of moments. More tears leaked from his eyes as he watched her vanish from the darkness and into a whirl of nothingness. He started to sway and stumble through the never ending darkness, limping a little now. 

From behind him, he heard a far away voice that sounded so very familiar, making him turn his head around to see Tohru standing by herself. He backed away slowly, not sure of what he wanted, but she continued to advance closer to him. He finally stopped to his temptation and allowed her milky white hand to caress his cheek tenderly as she whispered softly,

"Everything's going to be alright Kyo-kun, I promise."

Kyo felt a tear slide down his cheek, letting his emotion inundate as he lunged forward and embraced her tightly in his arms,

"Don't leave me.... please, you're all I've got left. I need you."

Tohru closed her eyes and put her arms lightly around his waist,

"I'm not going anywhere Kyo-kun...no where...."

A burst of pain diffused throughout his entire body when he felt a sharp object being twisted into the middle of his back. He gasped and spit out a glob of blood onto the ground as she pulled out a bloody knife from his back. She gave him a malignant grin and cackled as she walked away from him and into Hikaru's waiting arms. The whites in Kyo's eyes were shown all around as he shuffled backwards in pain. He lost all color in his features when he plopped down onto the ground where he lay there, feeling completely lost and lifeless. 

He felt his spirit being lifted up from his unmoving body and he could feel it being lifted out of the black darkness and into a new scene... a graveyard. It was still daylight and he saw through floating eyes his very own grave sitting right before him. He was astounded by the scene of his funeral happening right in front of him... and what made him even more shocked was the fact that no one was there. The place was completely deserted and there wasn't even a single wilted flower planted anywhere near his stone... there was nothing. 

_Everyone's... gone. No one** cares** about me anymore, I'm all alone... _

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Tohru opened her eyes drowsily and lifted her head up from the hospital bed groggily. She had spent every night at the hospital, waiting for Kyo to open up his eyes one morning and give her that bashful smile that he possessed. 

After the accident Kyo had fallen into a coma and he had lay asleep for over a week now. However, Tohru never lost hope in his awakening and she felt her heartbeat stop when she saw the sight that she saw. She blinked rapidly a few times and her eyes widened when she saw Kyo sitting up and looking out the open window with a sullen look on his face. She gasped and without even thinking she grabbed him into a tight embrace,

"You're awake!! Kyo-kun, I'm so glad! I was so worried... you don't know how worried I was..."

She continued to hug him tightly but loosened her grip when she didn't hear any reply at all. She bit her lower lip and let go of him, examining his face to see that he wore the same sullen look on his face that he had on before. She asked with fear and concern mixed together,

"Kyo...kun?"

No answer.

The door pushed open and a nurse stepped inside to see Tohru with a bewildered look on her face. She approached the two and said gently,

"I need to give Kyo a check up if you don't mind."

Tohru looked up at the nurse with tear filled eyes and asked with concern,

"Do you know if he's okay? He isn't speaking..."

The nurse stayed silent for a while and then finally spoke up with a voice full of sorrow,

"I'm sorry, but I think the boy has gone through a lot of trauma before the accident because he seems to have lost his ability to speak... this happens in many cases of depression... so it's just something that he will have to get through if he has the will to overcome his depressed state. I'm sorry, but that is all I can say."

Tohru grabbed his hand and he turned his head slightly to the left to look at her with empty eyes. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, she couldn't believe the fact that he wasn't able to speak...

_How can this be?_

Tohru asked hopefully,

"What can I do to help?"

"You can just try your best to make him happier or push him out of this state he is stuck in at the moment… I'm sorry but that is all I can say."

The nurse ushered Tohru out and said that she was sorry again but she had to give him a check up. Tohru leaned on the wall outside and felt a sudden thirst for a drink. She staggered slowly to the soda machine where she got a can of soda and gulped half the can down in five seconds. She felt her throat tingle with caffeine, and then she slipped down against the wall, dropping the half filled can of soda onto the tiled floor. It rolled away gradually, letting the contents of the soda pour out into a puddle. She sat there and watched the soda can roll away, and then positioned her head up so that she was staring up at the fluorescent lights for a long time before finally getting back up again. She clenched her fists together and told herself to be strong for Kyo, and to stay by his side no matter what. She was going to help him find his voice again, she just _had_ to. 

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Kyo was released from the hospital that evening and Tohru walked with him back to his apartment through the breezy weather. When they reached the front of the building she racked her brain for something to say, but nothing came up. She had no idea of what to say to a guy who couldn't say anything back.

_Come on Tohru, think! You're such a horrible person... you can't even think of a single cheerful thing to say when a guy needs you the most. _

She opened her mouth to say something random but before she could say a word he turned his back to her coldly and slammed the door to his apartment in her face. She jumped back from the loud echoing noise the door left behind and felt confused and hurt at the same time. She stared at the door with tears in her eyes and wondered to herself,

_What have I done...? _

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The very next morning, Tohru worked her shift at the bakery and then went straight to his apartment after her job. She was determined to make him feel better, and to let him know that she cared about him. She knocked on his door loudly, waiting patiently for him to come out but there was no answer for a few moments so she continued to knock repetitively on the door until her fingers were tinged with red. She sighed and banged on the door with her fist, yelling out,

"Please Kyo-kun, I just want to talk to you!"

After another few minutes she gave up from waiting and wondered if he was even in his apartment. She sighed and began to walk away, but then she heard the lock click and the door swing open. She turned around to see him standing by the doorway with a sorrow look on his face and he stared at her with eyes that had no love inside of them. Tohru approached him slowly and asked cautiously,

"May I come in?"

He stared at her carefully for a few good seconds and finally stepped to the side to let her in. She gave him a shaky smile and stepped in, not feeling fully comfortable. She cleared her throat and stood in the middle of the room awkwardly, not quite sure of what to do, or what to say. Kyo sat down on the bed quietly and stared at the wall blankly. Tohru gulped and asked quietly,

"Would you like anything to drink, or something to eat? I can run down to the bakery and get you something..."

Kyo just sat there with a stone cold face for a long while until she saw something glisten in his eye. She sat by his side and embraced him close to her wanting to stop the tears. He didn't hug her back but the tears just fell stronger and stronger. That's when he pushed her off of him gently and crossed his arms over his chest with a hurt expression crossing his face. She said softly,

"I'm sorry if I hurt you in any way..."

Kyo just looked away and stared out the open window next to his bed. Tohru bowed her head down in defeat, not knowing what to do when he didn't even want her nearby. She had wanted to help him so badly, but how was she going to help him if he constantly pushed her away?

Hours passed and Tohru stuck around in his apartment, giving him food and drinks, making sure that he was comfortable. After a while, he fell asleep on the bed with Tohru still in the house. She came out of the kitchen holding a cup of tea and found him asleep on the bed, looking peaceful. She let out an audible sigh and set down the saucer onto the table nearby. She sat down on the chair next to him and took his rough hands into hers. She caressed his hand, soaking them with her fallen tears. She lay her head down on the bed and her shoulders shook as she cried silently by his side, whispering out in a cracked voice,

"I want to know what you're thinking right now...I want to hear all your complaints and more about your life, and I want to hear you call out my name in that voice that gives me chills whenever I hear it...I want to hear it all so badly... so badly..."

She lifted her head slightly to see that he was still sleeping, giving her the courage to let out more of her pent up feelings. She grasped his limp hands tighter and continued with a choked up voice,

"If you're listening, I want you to know that you're not alone and that I'll always be here with you no matter what. I know you probably don't feel the same way about me, but... but I'm in love with you and I've always been..."

Tohru laughed a little, reminiscing about the first day that they met,

"I remember the first time you stepped into that bakery with that cold exterior and icy glare."

She paused for a moment and then continued with a small smile playing on her lips,

"To tell you the truth, I was kinda scared when I first met you... but when you said that you'd protect me, I felt safer and I began to realize that underneath the cold smirks and glares, there was something more...something deeper and warmer. After all those weeks of you walking me home gave me comfort and warmth...and I started to live for those moments of when you gave me those rare but genuine smiles that you have. You can't see it but, I've fallen so deeply in love with you that it hurts so bad to see you like this right now. I never knew love could hurt so much...and I'm sorry for being such a coward and not being able to admit my feelings to you sooner, I'm so sorry Kyo-kun... please forgive me."

Tohru felt her heart get lighter and her shoulders roll back in relaxation after her confession. She had been holding all those feelings bottled up for so long now. She suddenly felt his fingers wrap around her hand slowly and she snapped back when she saw him smile and whisper out,

"Tohru..."

_Did I just hear him speak?_

To make sure she wasn't dreaming, she whispered out his name softly, 

"Kyo-kun?"

His eyes opened up slowly and his crimson orbs had a newfound softness shining inside of them. He held her hand tightly in his and gave her one of his rarest smiles that made her blush madly. He asked in a low and gruff voice,

"..Yea?"

"K-Kyo... you're voice! It's back!"

Kyo sat up from his bed slowly and pushed the blanket away, revealing his long tan legs and toned arms to go with it. She blushed at his lack of clothing and looked down at her lap from embarrassment. 

"Tohru?"

Tohru's head whipped up and their eyes locked, taking her breath away and causing her heart to freeze in place. Kyo leaned over and pulled her into a warm and tight embrace which made her blush more than she already was. Kyo closed his eyes and thought about the words that she had said to him before when she thought he had been asleep. Those words had really brought him out of his state of loneliness and depression that he had been stuck in... her feelings had saved him. 

"Thank you..."

Tohru's eyes widened and she laid her chin down on top of his warm shoulder, asking with curiosity,

"For what?"

"For feeling the way that you do..."

"You don't have to thank me for anything...I'm just glad you're alright."

Kyo shook his head, touching her silky long brown hair with his fingertips, and said sincerely,

"But I do have to thank you... because before I felt as if no one cared about me anymore and that I was alone. I had lost so many people in my life, and I thought I had lost you too a few weeks back, but now I know that you're still here... and that's all I really need. You're the only person that I really care about. The only one."

"Kyo-kun..."

A giant smile spread across her features and she sighed as she wrapped her arms around his back with happiness. He smiled and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in closer to him, not wanting to let go of her. He looked out the window and saw the full moon gleaming brightly against the midnight heavens. He smiled to himself and thought,

_I haven't** really **confessed everything that I feel about you, but maybe tomorrow... maybe tomorrow I'll read you that piece of paper that I spilled my heart onto, the piece of paper that is deep down in my pockets somewhere... yes...maybe tomorrow. But for now? I wanna remain like this, not exactly platonic but not yet lovers either, just somewhere in between. That's where I wanna be... for today._

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_I don't know how I'll feel,_

_tomorrow__, tomorrow,_

_I don't know what to say,_

_tomorrow__, tomorrow_

_Is a different day_

_It's always been up to you,_

_It's turning around,_

_It's up to me,_

_I'm gonna do what I have to do..._

_Gimme__ a little time,_

_Leave me alone a little while,_

_Maybe it's not too late,_

_not__ today, today, today, today, today..._

_I know I'm not ready,_

_Maybe tomorrow…___

_Tomorrow it may change…_

**_Avril_****_ Lavigne – Tomorrow_**

**__**

**PLEASE REVIEWWW!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! And I hope you liked the chapter :D**


	11. Love Disease

**THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS. PLEASE ENJOY THE FINAL CHAPTER!!**

**__**

_Chapter XI_ - **_Love Disease_**

The snow fell softly onto the ground of Tokyo, covering it with a blanket of white color. It was Christmas morning and Tohru had already finished all of her Christmas shopping the other day. She was staring out of the large bakery window, watching as the snowflakes danced their way to the ground with a feather light touch. Tohru sighed with happiness and finally got up off of the counter, surveying the empty bakery, letting out another loud sigh. She leaned down and fixed up the cakes in the display, thinking about the looks on Uo and Mitsuki's faces when she had given them their candy canes and cards a few days back. They had been so happy and gave her giant hugs, she simply loved Christmas. Most of all she just loved seeing the smiles and the feeling of giving presents to her precious ones. Christmas just had his feeling to it that just made her want to go outside and break into a whole singing and dancing fit. She smiled when she looked at the nicely wrapped box next to her on the counter and thought about the present that she was going to give to Kyo after her shift. She couldn't wait.

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After a few hours of working, the clock finally struck eight o' clock and she wished the manager of the bakery a Merry Christmas before closing up the bakery. She expected Kyo to be outside already but instead she just saw a white piece of paper taped to the door. The note read:

Meet me at the park

-Kyo

She wondered what this meant and what he was going to do or say... the boy was full of surprises. She blew out a foggy breath in the night air and strolled through the snow covered ground. She smiled up at the blinking lights that hung on the rooftops of houses and stores, making the whole street light up with various amounts of red and green color. She did a little twirl and admired the Christmas trees that were so beautifully dressed up outside with their dangling ornaments and golden stars shining brightly on top. When she finally reached the park she was in high spirits and immediately spotted Kyo sitting on the swings with a paper in his hand and a nervous look on his face. She walked up to him with a grin on her face and leaned over to him, announcing,

"Merry Christmas!"

Kyo nearly fell over with a startled look on his face; he had been so lost in his own little world that he hadn't seen her approaching him. She giggled and put her hands behind her back, asking,

"So what is it that you wanted me to come here for?"

Kyo licked his cold and dry lips, lifting himself up from the swings, then he gulped and began to pace around in front of her, making her begin to feel a little uneasy. He then cleared his throat and said awkwardly,

"Look... I just wanna say I'm sorry for holding this off for so long, but we've been down such a hard road and all, but now that the road is smooth again and I have a confession to make...so just listen, okay?"

Tohru gave him a funny look and replied uneasily,

"...Okay."

Tohru slowly seated herself onto a swing and placed his present down beside her, watching him as he opened up the folded piece of white paper with trembling fingers. She watched him intently and waited as he gritted his teeth, clearing his throat for a second time, and wiped his sweaty palms onto his pants before finally speaking,

"Love disease...I always thought of love as a disease. Something that you caught...something that only caused pain and destruction. I only thought of love this way because in my past I had lost a loved one, and I guess I never got back on my feet, until **you** came along. That night at the bakery when I first met you, you really changed my life... At first the only reason I had agreed to guard you was because of the free food that was included but... before I knew it I started to get attached to you after a while, and that really messed with my head. You still stuck around for me though, and you kept lifting me up whenever I was falling. I've even started to believe in love again, because you give me _faith_ to believe in it. You restore my _hope_...the words that I continue to hurt you with mean nothing. It's just that I've been so damn _afraid_ of being with you... so please forgive me and my cowardice actions. You've changed my mind about things... you change my definition of love. Now I think of it as a_ gift._ These are the words that are from my heart, words that have no _lies_ hidden behind them, words that _mean_ something, and I hope that you'll accept these words...and accept the fact that I'm in love with you. Head over heels in love!"

Kyo bent down over a shocked Tohru and whispered in his most sincere voice,

"I want to be with you more than _anything_ else in the world..."

She managed to find her voice deep down in her throat and squeaked out softly,

"Me too..."

Kyo smiled softly at her, grabbing the chains of the swing that she was sitting on, putting the swing to a stop, and whispered out,

"Good, cuz I'm gonna kiss you now."

He leaned in and their eyes fluttered shut as he kissed her softly on the lips, with no regrets left behind, warming their bodies throughout the snowy winter night. He was finally healed from his horrible disease.

_I'm sorry Ayumi... but please forgive me for loving again. We must move on and find happiness again right? I've finally found mine. _

After the kiss their foreheads touched slightly and they both smiled from the aftermath of the moment. Tohru's eyes brightened up suddenly and she reached down next to her and scooped up the wrapped box from the ground. Kyo's eyes widened when she stuffed a nicely wrapped present underneath his nose and said cheerfully,

"I brought a present for you! Open it!"

Kyo beamed at her and took the package into his hands, letting his excitement get the best of him as he ripped open the paper like a little boy on Christmas morning. He lifted the cover of the box to reveal a wrapped slice of chocolate moist cake, a brand new picture frame, and a black bandana that was new as well. His face lit up, picking up the piece of cake that was wrapped in a clear paper, and said with a chuckle,

"I always loved that free cake of yours..."

Tohru blushed bashfully and tipped her head lower, not daring to look into his cinnamon colored eyes. He finally reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a skinny velvet box. He handed it to her and she looked up with surprise, not expecting a present at all. Kyo grinned lopsidedly at her and waggled the box in her face,

"Open it already will ya?"

Tohru nodded obediently and opened up the blue box slowly to reveal a shining silver chain with a heart shaped locket hanging on the end. She covered her mouth with her hand, letting out a small gasp. She whispered out softly,

"This is so beautiful... but... this must have cost a fortune! I can't accept this!"

Kyo chuckled again and put his hands over her gloved ones and their eyes connected deeply with each others. He said simply,

"I don't care about the money anymore... so just take it alright? I told you, you don't have to be so polite around me... so just take it okay?"

Tohru laughed softly and shook her head in disbelief,

"This is incredible..."

"Love makes you do crazy things right?"

She threw her arms around his shoulders and hugged him with gratitude,

"Thank you so much! I'll wear it everyday!"

Kyo felt an idea suddenly boil up in his mind and pushed out of the embrace gently with a mischievous smile on his face,

"I've got an idea, come with me."

She looked confused as he pulled her along to the nearest drugstore, where he purchased one of those cameras that developed the pictures right after you took them. After buying it, he grinned and held up the present she gave him, pointing out,

"Well I'm gonna to need a picture to put into this frame right?"

Tohru felt her lips spread into a huge smile; feeling happier then she had ever felt before. Kyo saw a man walking down the empty streets and tapped him on the shoulder lightly.

"'Scuse me sir, can you take a picture of us together?"

The jolly man lifted his lips up and nodded with agreement. He took the camera from Kyo's hands and waited until Kyo and Tohru got into their positions. The man then pushed the button and snapped a photo of the two with their arms around one another, being plain happy.

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Later that night Kyo sat on his bed with an irremovable smile plastered onto his face. He reached underneath his bed and took out the dusty and broken picture frame with him and Ayumi in it. After looking at it for a long time he took out the picture from the cracked frame and made a long and happy tearing sound as he tore the picture in half. Then he chucked both the torn picture and the broken frame into the garbage can, taking out the brand new picture frame from the present Tohru had given to him. He smiled and slipped the recent photo that they had taken into the new frame and held it at arm's length, admiring it from afar. Then he placed it on the table next to his bed, smiling contently to himself before falling into a deep sleep with no nightmares. Not anymore.

_Love is a like a **disease.** _

_Nobody ever wants to catch it, _

_But they end up catching it anyway. _

_And when they do, it causes great amounts of _

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**_pain_**_, and **destruction ** _

_But when the disease is healed, _

_You become a **new** person, a **better** person. _

_Views on life become clearer, and _

_you want to take more chances in life..._

_The thing about love is that it may cause you pain at times..._

_but you have to be strong and live through the pain,_

_and with patience and time, the disease will subside and heal..._

_Now I know that, and I finally feel... happy._

_Love has changed me. _

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**_ T H E   E N D _**

**Yea... sorry guys, but the story had to come to an end sometime, right? Well I'll be thinking up ideas for another story soon, so hopefully you guys will wait for it and read it too :D So many people have been so supportive and nice and every good word in the dictionary :] You people really made me feel happy that my writing actually had some sort of an impact on you guys... thank you guys so much. BYEBYE**


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